Where audience preferences start to split
While comedy and entertainment/pop culture attract similar shares of men and women, differences emerge when looking at some of the most popular podcast genres.
News/current affairs are the most popular types of podcasts among Americans who listen to/watch podcasts, with half (50%) saying they most often listen to and/or watch this type of content. However, engagement is notably higher among men, (56%) than women ( 44%).
In contrast, true crime – one of the most popular podcast genres overall (31%) – is more popular among women (35%) than men (27%). Women are also more likely to engage with education/self-improvement (25% vs. 16%), lifestyle (17% vs. 12%) and health/wellness podcasts (18% vs. 14%).
The largest gender differences, however, can be seen in sports and technology/science podcasts. Men are five times more likely than women to say they most often listen to and/or watch sports podcasts (30% vs. 6%), while technology/science podcasts attract 28% of men compared with 11% of women.
