Apple’s Podcast Analytics Data Reveals an Ad-Listening Audience

Apple rolled out its long-awaited Podcast Analytics feature last month, which is meant to give podcast publishers more data about the behavior of their listeners.

Basically, publishers can now know just how many (anonymized) listeners stayed through a whole episode — and what proportion of their audience dropped off after a certain point.

Today, Miranda Katz at Wired published a piece on whether podcast listeners are actually engaging with the content, and the results are, in fact, quite refreshing.

“Though it’s still early days, the numbers podcasters are seeing are highly encouraging. Forget those worries that the podcast bubble would burst the minute anyone actually got a closer look: It seems like podcast listeners really are the hyper-engaged, super-supportive audiences that everyone hoped.”

Referencing representatives from Midroll, Headgum, and Panoply, the article shows that numbers tend to be steady regardless of the length of the show, and the few listeners who do skip ads continue to remain engaged with the episode, rather than dropping off at the first sign of an interruption.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, is the question on whether this newly-found data provided by Apple’s Podcast Analytics feature would lead to a new boom in podcasting.

“On the business side, it’s likely that these high engagement rates and low levels of ad skipping will see a flood of new advertisers who have until now been reticent to enter the Wild West of podcasting — welcome news to anyone who feels about ready to throw their phone across the room any time they hear another ad for Squarespace or Casper.”

If you’re a podcaster, podcast listener, or someone interested in getting into either or, Apple‘s data is certainly good news for those who thought the medium to be a fading one.