Podcast FAQ

how long is the average podcast

by Patsy Welch Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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The average length of a podcast is 36 minutes. However, that figure was calculated in December 2019. So, chances are high that the average podcast length is now less, with trends indicating that shorter podcasts are more popular. One of the reasons for shorter podcasts is not just about listener time.

Full Answer

What is the best length for a podcast?

  • It’s a lot of talking. Speaking for 30 to 45 minutes is tiring. And that’s only if you record it perfectly the first time. ...
  • You don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off (unless you have a partner or team behind the scenes) or help you promote.
  • If you’re nervous behind the mic, you may need to practice a bit before recording for your first episode.

How long is the average podcast?

The overall average length of a podcast in 2019 is about 37 minutes; the average length of a podcast in the video games category is twice that. But that 37 minutes figure includes all podcasts, whether they’re popular or not. How long is a popular one? It turns out that the average length of a top 100 podcast (in October 2018) is 53 minutes.

How long should a podcast be?

Make sure you also join my weekly LIVE Podcast every Friday at 12 pm GMT / 8 am EST / 5 am ... on 30th or 60th second they hoover the mouse over the video to see how long it is. If you can deliver your TEDx talk in maximum 8 minutes you will have the ...

What is the ideal length for a podcast interview?

  • There are currently over 750,000 podcasts out for people to listen to [ source]
  • Over 30% of the US population listens to podcasts monthly [ source]
  • 49% of podcast listeners listen at home while 22% listen while driving [ source]
  • Podcast listeners subscribe to an average of 6 shows [ source]
  • The average podcast lasts about 43 minutes [ source]

More items...

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Is a 15 minute podcast too short?

No, it can't be too short. There is no definitive time which a podcast has to reach. Shorter podcasts leave you less time to deliver information, engage and entertain, but can work well if you have a lot of useful tips to share.

What is the most popular podcast length?

The average podcast length is 43 minutes and 24 seconds, but the most popular podcasts in 2019 were 53 minutes long.

How long should your first podcast be?

Anywhere from 3-6 minutes is common. It doesn't look like you're demanding too much of a listener's time – because they probably don't know anything about you at this stage, and so, have no loyalty towards you. Of course, you should never feel obliged to record any episode based on a time length recommendation.

How long is the average podcast episode?

38 minutes and 42 secondsOverall average length Considering these extreme outliers, I decided to look at the median average: Based on a sample of 10 million episodes, the median podcast duration is 38 minutes and 42 seconds. In other words, half of all currently published podcast episodes are longer than 38:42. The other half are shorter.

How long should a podcast should be?

The length of your podcast also depends on your subject, industry or genre. It could be that around 15-20 minutes perfect for your listeners. But maybe your specific audience wants more in-depth, exploratory information; in which case, 45-90 minutes would provide more value.

How often do podcasts fail?

Less than 20% of the podcasts that have launched this year will make it to next year. Most podcasts fail. If you've launched a podcast or are thinking about launching one, you don't want to put in all that work just to see your experiment get canned in a few months.

Do podcasts make money?

Sponsorships are the most common way podcasters make money. This is when the podcast promotes the sponsor during the show. You probably hear your favorite shows plug their advertisers a few times in every episode. How much you earn from a sponsor depends on the number of downloads your episodes earn.

How long is a solo podcast?

15 minutes to 2-3 hoursDepending on the podcast, episodes can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2-3 hours – wow! But, what's important to remember here is that, as a solo host, you'll be the only person talking the entire time.

How much does a popular podcast make?

Income from Popular Podcasts The Dave Ramsey Show has 13 million weekly listeners and earns nearly $10 million in annual income. Shepard Armchair Expert earns $9 million a year with almost 20 million monthly listeners. The Bill Simmons Podcast earns $7 million yearly income. Chapo Trap House makes $2 million each year.

Is an hour podcast too long?

But the general theory of podcast episode lengths is simple. If you have 40 minutes of good, on-topic content, and your episode lasts 1 hour, then it's too long. If If you have 40 minutes of good, on-topic content, and your episode lasts 20 minutes, then it's too short.

How Short Can podcasts be?

Short podcasts are shows with episode lengths that range anywhere from a minute to around 15 minutes.

How long should my podcast last?

If you know your listeners are listening in during their commute, keep your podcast to between 20 and 30 minutes. If your listeners do their housework while they listen, 15 to 60 minutes will keep them entertained.

How Long Should a Podcast Episode Be? [2021 Update]

How Long Should a Podcast Episode Be? [2021 Update]

Why Podcasts Are Getting Shorter

In recent years there’s been an interesting trend emerging: podcasts are getting shorter. Discover why episodes are shrinking and how this affects you.

How Long is the Average Podcast?

Most podcasts fall around the 40-minute mark so striving for those hour-long episodes isn’t a necessity. The No Such Thing as a Fish podcast tends to average around 40 minutes per episode. Some episodes are longer, some shorter but mostly they’re around this mark.

It's Not All About Longer Podcasts

Since 2005 podcasts have actually gotten shorter with the majority of podcasts lasting around half an hour. A great example of a popular podcast where episodes last up to around 25 minutes is the Blossoms pubcast

Figuring Out Your Perfect Podcast Length

Podcasts are about quality, not quantity. It’s better to release a podcast that is 20 minutes of great content than an hour of substandard content.

Publish Your First Episode in Minutes

Podcast.co is the easiest way to create a podcast and share your stories. Import an existing show or create a new one. Click, drag, drop... and you’re done!

How long is a podcast?

The average podcast episode length on a Buzzsprout review is 38 minutes. 38 minutes and 42 seconds to be exact according to research. Keep in mind that people who have hours and hours to dedicate to podcast listening tend to be in the minority, which is why a lot of podcasts are between 20 minutes and 30 minutes while some get up to 60 minutes.

How long is the longest podcast?

The longest continuous podcast episode ever spanned 36 hours. Mike Russell of UK Podcasters gave up sleep to record continually for a day and a half. While this was a one-time endeavor, podcasts out there regularly record episodes that clock in at several hours long.

What happens if you don't give yourself enough time for podcasting?

If you do not give yourself enough time for audio editing after recording, then you will likely end up with a podcast that is not of the right quality for your show.

How long should a podcast episode be?

However, with that being said, many people enjoy consistency. If the average length of your podcast episodes is 60 minutes, but then you suddenly create one that is two hours, it may throw off your listeners. People like to know how much time they need to dedicate ...

How long does it take to listen to a podcast?

Some podcasts get across all the information they need to in just five minutes. In fact, this short time frame for episodes is actually a huge draw for on the go people who do not have much time to devote to listening to podcasts.

How long is Dan Carlin's podcast?

One such example is Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. Nearly every episode of this podcast is longer than three hours. Some episodes even clock in at well over six hours. However, it has a huge following and is one of the most successful podcasts in existence.

Why is it important to get help on podcasts?

Getting help is a great way to reduce the burden on yourself. However, not every person has the resources to use help from others. If you are committed to your podcast show and want to make each episode the best you can, getting help may be the right move.

How long should a podcast be?

Here's the bottom line – if your episode contains a solid 20 minutes of good content that delivers on its title and serves your audience, then 20 minutes is the perfect podcast episode length.

How long can you play a show on your phone?

You can play 5 minutes of a show whilst making your breakfast in the morning, another 15 on the trip to work, then listen to the rest on the way home. Or even the next day or week. It's just as easy to plug your car speakers into your phone as it is a set of earbuds.

How long is Dan Carlin's Hardcore History?

New episodes of the series are downloaded millions of times within the first month of their release. On top of that though, these episodes tend to be between 4 and 6 hours long.

Why are all episodes the same length?

They're all similar lengths because that's generally how long it takes to present your content. You can deviate from that now and then if the content dictates. But having absolutely no consistency in your episode lengths could be jarring for your listeners, and prevent you from growing your audience. It could easily give off the impression of ...

Is 40 minutes too short for a podcast?

If If you have 40 minutes of good, on-topic content, and your episode lasts 20 minutes, then it's too short. And if you're consistent and organised with your content, then it's likely your episodes will fall within a certain length range overall. Content shouldn't be made to fit length. Length should be made to fit content.

Do you have to be wrapped up on the hour to record a radio show?

You don't need to be wrapped up on the hour so they can cut to the news.

Do you have to be wrapped up for podcasting?

You don't need to be wrapped up on the hour so they can cut to the news. Podcasting is on-demand content, so take as long as you need to create a great episode. But once you've achieved that, be mindful not to drag it out any longer.

Average length by category

The average length of a podcast episode varies a lot depending on the category. Gaming and music-related categories tend to have the longest episodes. Business and education-focused categories have the shortest episodes.

Average length over time

I was curious to know if podcast episodes are — on average — getting any longer or shorter. So I took my 10 million episodes, lined them up by release date, then calcuated the monthly median episode length. Here’s what I found:

Are popular shows longer or shorter than average?

To see how popular shows compare to the general population, I looked at 21,585 individual episodes published by shows listed on the Apple Podcasts US Top 400 on October 25, 2018.

How long should I listen to a podcast?

If you want to know the optimum duration for a podcast, you might want to know how long “something else” is. For example, the average commuting timein the US is 26 minutes.

How long are podcasts in Nigeria?

A podcast survey in Nigeriaat the end of 2019 says that 54% of Nigerians prefer podcasts to be shorter than 40 minutes (so nearly half prefer them to be longer.) Perception is reality, though. Edison Research interviewed 1,000 Americans who were familiar with podcasts - but don’t listen to them.

Why do podcasts exist?

A podcast exists to tell a story or convey an idea. Unlike radio or TV, it needn’t be any specific duration to fit a schedule. The selfish method. Some podcasters hit 'record’, do their podcast, and then, after hitting 'stop’ simply publish the result. It’s “as long as it needs to be”.

Why is editing important for podcasts?

Recording is fun, editing can be boring and dull; but it’s important to do, they say, because your number one job as a podcast host is to delight your listeners. If you don’t, they’ll go away. So, according to many podcasters, editing is just as important as finding the right guests or the right content.

How long are YouTube commercials?

In August 2019, research showed that the most popular commercials on YouTube were just 6 seconds long. And in December 2019, RAIN Newswas comparing the total length of daily news podcasts with the amount of ads in them - and how long they took to get going.

Why are podcasts longer?

Longer podcasts can indicate that you are an industry thought leader. And they allow you to drill deeper into your subject. This results in absorbing content that keeps your listeners interested, engaged and subscribed. Longer podcasts will:

What is Joe Rogan's podcast?

A well-known US comedian, martial artist, TV host and actor, Joe interviews a wide variety of guests about anything and everything – from aerospace entrepreneurs to filmmakers, authors to comedians and many others. Joe’s podcasts are often three hours or more, yet he commands a huge following of thousands.

Average Podcast Downloads

Podcasting is long-form content. Don't compare podcast download numbers with things like YouTube plays, or social media follower counts.

How Many Podcast Downloads Should I Be Getting?

In a world of YouTube views and Twitter followers, we've become accustomed to figures in the hundreds of thousands, and even millions.

Audience Quality & Engagement

An audience might seem “small” in a numerical sense. But with long-form content like podcasting, it's often shows with smaller, but more niche hyper-targeted shows that are considered the more successful.

I Still Want a Gauge on Average Podcast Downloads

Buzzsprout are one of the biggest podcast hosting platforms in the world. In fact, with well over 85,000 active shows on their platform, they are arguably the biggest.

Summary: Average Podcast Downloads

Ultimately, asking the question “what's a good number of downloads for a podcast?” is similar to asking “how long is a piece of string?”. Every case is unique. No two podcasts are exactly the same.

How often do podcasts come out?

Frequency of podcast basically means how many times you release a new episode . It can be daily or every two days or weekly or any other time frame. It is also not necessary to have a definite frequency and you may release your episodes randomly.

How often do podcasts run?

There are many podcasts that run fortnightly or even monthly. These are less popular frequencies. You may find some great podcast running at these frequencies but in general weekly or few times a week are most popular.

How does length affect podcast success?

Podcast length and frequency. The length of your podcast and how frequently you get your episodes out can have a major impact on the success or failure of your podcast. This is especially true for certain topics and niches where too long podcasts or too infrequent podcasts can become a problem and vice versa.

What is the relationship between frequency and duration of a podcast?

Relationship between duration and frequency of your podcast. There is generally a relationship between the duration of your podcast and frequency of your podcast. The more frequent podcasts tend to have smaller duration while less frequent podcasts have longer duration. This is not a rule, but it makes sense !

How many podcasts can I have a week?

Multiple Shows a week. This is also a popular frequency for making podcasts. Rather than having a daily podcast you can have two to three podcasts every week. This gives you sufficient time to prepare for your shows at the same time also does not overwhelm the audience with a lot of content.

How many episodes are there in a month?

A monthly plan can help you to cover a particular theme within your topic or a sub theme. A month will generally have 4 to 8 episodes for a normal podcast show.

How long does it take to start a podcast?

60 to 90 minutes. Starting a podcast without having any sort of plan can lead to disaster. No matter how much experience you have or how well you think you can improvise on the fly, it is essential to have a plan in place. Planning your podcast can be confusing and a little daunting to start with if you are not aware about the process.

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A Quick Clarification on Podcast Length

Ideal Podcast Episode Length Is Determined by Content

  • Here’s the bottom line – if your episode contains a solid 20 minutes of good content that delivers on its title and serves your audience, then 20 minutes is the perfect podcast episode length. Why stretch that out to an hour, or cut it down to 15 minutes? That’s just putting artificial roadblocks in front of you in your quest to make the best conte...
See more on thepodcasthost.com

What About Listening Habits?

  • Over the years I’ve heard people try to answer the question of podcast episode length by referring to things like average commuter times. Or the time it takes someone to have a shower. I don’t buy that these are relevant to podcast listening, because you can stop and start listening to episodes wherever and whenever you like. You can play 5 minutes of a show whilst making your breakfas…
See more on thepodcasthost.com

Should All My Podcast Episodes Be The Same length?

  • The same rules apply here: you should never stretch something out if it’s finished, or cut it short if it’s not. There’s definitely a benefit to having some consistency here though. Loyal listeners will come to expect your episodes to be within a certain length range. But you get into that position by having a system, process, and routine in place for putting your episodes together. They’re all sim…
See more on thepodcasthost.com

Flash Briefings & Daily News

  • One reason to create short (sub 10 minute) episodes is if you want to do a daily news or “flash briefing” show. These are becoming increasingly popular on smart speakers, where listeners are building playlists of shows that can update them on their areas of interest on a daily basis. These shows, by their very nature, are short and to the point. But it’s the content that should dictate the …
See more on thepodcasthost.com

Should I Avoid Overly Long Podcast Episodes?

  • Arguably, one of the biggest shows on the planet is Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. The term “biggest” works on two levels. New episodes of the series are downloaded millions of times within the first month of their release. On top of that though, these episodes tend to be between 3 and 6 hourslong. This length is perfect for the show’s content, which means they are in no way “too lon…
See more on thepodcasthost.com

Summary: Podcast Episode Length

  • As ever, there’s no single one answer here, because everyone’s podcast is different. But the general theory of podcast episode lengths is simple. If you have 40 minutes of good, on-topic content, and your episode lasts 1 hour, then it’s too long. If If you have 40 minutes of good, on-topic content, and your episode lasts 20 minutes, then it’s too short. And if you’re consistent an…
See more on thepodcasthost.com

Need More Podcast Questions answered?

  • So now you’ve got your answer to the question “how long should a podcast be?”. Why not let us help you with a few more frequently asked questions? 1. What’s a Good Number of Downloads for a Podcast? 2. How Do I Upload a Podcast? 3. What’s the Best Podcast Editing Software? 4. What Music Can I Use in My Podcast? 5. How Loud Should a Podcast Be? If you’re a fan of our free co…
See more on thepodcasthost.com

Overall Average Length

Average Length by Category

Average Length Over Time

Are Popular Shows Longer Or Shorter Than average?

Our Approach at Pacific Content

  • There’s no one-size-fits-all recommendation for episode length. At Pacific Content, most of the episodes we produce are in the 25–30 minute range. There are many reasons for this, including average commute times in the US. Remember, podcasts are a medium built on loyalty and habit. The best shows earntheir place in a listener’s daily/weekly/monthly...
See more on blog.pacific-content.com

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