Podcast Users Outnumber Bloggers

Podcast Users Outnumber Bloggers

by Wendy Davis, Thursday, Jul 13, 2006 6:00 AM ET

U.S. ADULTS WHO DOWNLOAD PODCASTS now outnumber those who publish blogs, according to new data by Nielsen//NetRatings. More than 9.2 million Web users, or 6.6 percent of U.S. adult Web users, have downloaded an audio podcast in the last 30 days, compared to 6.7 million users (4.8 percent) who published blogs in that time, according to the research company. Nielsen//NetRatings also reported that around 5.6 million online adults (4 percent) have downloaded a video podcast in the last 30 days. Podcast downloaders tend to be younger than the online population at large. Web users between the ages 18 and 24 are 72 percent more likely than the average Web user to listen to audio podcasts and 47 percent more likely to view video podcasts. Users older than 45 were less likely than average to listen or view podcasts. Web users who use podcasts are far more likely to visit certain content sites than the average Web user, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Those who use audio podcasts are 506 percent more likely than average to visit Macworld, 453 percent more likely to visit Lycos Wired News, and 444 percent more likely to visit Slashdot. Video podcast users were 764 percent more likely than the average user to visit StarTrek.com, a CBS Paramount site based on the 40-year-old "Star Trek" TV franchise. Video podcast users were also 630 percent more likely than average to visit Live365.com, and 624 percent more likely than average to visit Fark.com.