IAB Ireland research Listen Up Ireland 2020 records strong growth in digital audio users, in consumption and across channels
- 2.53 million Irish adults (71%) listen to digital audio in an average week in 2020 – up 9% on 2019
- Weekly consumption growth tracked: Average listening time up by 3 hours per week to 16.6 hours: 25-34-year olds (+8.5 hrs.) and 45-54-year olds (+6.9 hrs.).
- Growth in consumption is across all digital audio formats: Podcasts (+33%), Online Radio (+32%), On Demand Music (+31%)
- 51% are consuming more podcasts than they did a year ago with 25% expecting to increase that further in the next 12 months. A similar behaviour can be seen with online radio and music with 44% listening more than a year ago and 23% expecting to increase that further in the next 12 months
- Smart speaker Usage has doubled to 1 million adults now who have a Smart Speaker
IAB Ireland’s second wave of digital audio research Listen Up Ireland2020 was launched today at Connect H2, IAB Ireland’s digital advertising conference. The study, which was carried out by Red C Research in September 2020, provides a detailed overview of the Irish digital audio landscape and tracks strong growth in digital audio, in consumption and across digital audio channels compared to the 2019 results.
The research provides a rich source of data for planning and buying digital audio including data on incidence and demographics, channel consumption, time spent consuming digital audio, devices used, and content consumed.
IAB Ireland’s Digital Audio Council with members from digital audio companies and media agencies worked closely with Red C Research on the research objectives and design. Commenting on the report, Rob Timony, council chairperson said, “Digital audio has developed significantly as an advertising medium in the last 12 months here in Ireland. We are delighted to see 9% growth in users to 2.53 millions adults in 2020 and the 18% growth in weekly consumption to 16.6 hours per person reflects the strength of digital audio as a channel in the Irish market. With more listeners discovering new music and spoken word content via digital audio, the medium is in an exciting place as we move into 2021.”
Sara Eslami, Associate Director at Red C Research added “Listen Up Ireland 2020sees digital audio consumption becoming more mainstream with older age groups now also recording strong growth as well as the heavy usage in younger audiences”
Download the full Research Deck:
