News podcasts offer audiences a new way to keep up with current events and understand the issues they face. With episodes ranging from 20 minutes to half an hour, listening to a reporter, pundit or person at the centre of a story offers nuance and feeling you can’t get from reading a newspaper or watching TV.
As more people curate their news experience on-demand through podcasts, they’re connecting with hosts and brands they trust. Podcast listeners are younger, more educated and have higher incomes than non-listeners – and these are exactly the types of audiences news publishers want to reach.
From political commentary to sports, there’s a wide variety of news podcasts available for listeners to choose from. Here are a few examples:
Politics podcasts are popular among the public, and Pod Save America from The Washington Post provides an unbiased and no-nonsense discussion on politics with a range of guests including politicians, experts and ordinary Americans.
A more thoughtful take on American politics comes from The Takeaway, a podcast that covers the top breaking news stories of the day. Episodes are short and informative, and include expert interviews and live reports from the field.
Podcast listeners who are open to paying for content highlight uniqueness and depth as factors they’d be willing to pay for. This could be through exclusive add-on shows that go beyond standard news coverage, or by providing access to hosts they’d like to see behind a paywall.