Podcast audience up 22% over last year

Podcasting continues to make strides among users according to a new report by Edison Research.

Edison’s study, “The Infinite Dial 2009” (pdf) details how we listen and watch online radio/video offerings, including podcasts.

There were two particular finding from our point of view;

1. Portable Media Players. More than four in ten people (42%) own an iPod, iPhone, or other kind of portable media/mp3 player, and among the 12 – 44 year-old crowd, that percentage jumps to above 50 percent. The “key radio demographic” of 35-to 54-year-olds are becoming more frequent online radio listeners.

2. Podcast Audience. Forty-three percent of Americans are aware of podcasts, up from 37% last year. Twenty-two percent of Americans have ever listened to a podcast (up from 18% in 2008), and approximately 27 million (or 11%) have listened to one in the past month (up from 9% last year).