It appears that Spotify’s podcast investments are paying off. For the first time, Spotify’s US podcast listenership will overtake Apple Podcasts’, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast. This year, 28.2 million people will listen to podcasts on Spotify at least monthly, while 28.0 million will listen via Apple Podcasts. Spotify has experienced significant growth in recent years; the company will grow 41.3% this year.

The pandemic led to many upward revisions of our UK digital user forecasts. Some changes (podcast listeners) will be permanent, while others will be temporary (digital gamers). Our social network user numbers, meanwhile, didn’t change much at all.

eMarketer analyst Blake Droesch, principal analyst Jeremy Goldman, and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle discuss whether the Super Bowl delivered, what's fueling Spotify, how the podcast and social media worlds are blurring together, if reducing politics in the News Feed can help Facebook, why the shopping mall might make a comeback, what is the most relaxing song ever (statistically), and more.

Early in the pandemic, digital audio took a huge hit in user engagement and in the amount of time listeners were spending with the medium. Many observers, including us, predicted dire results in the short term. However, the rest of the year played out very differently than those early weeks, and we ultimately revised our 2020 estimate from a 1.0% decline in the time US adults spent with digital audio to 8.3% growth, for a total of 1 hour, 29 minutes (1:29) per day.

eMarketer principal analysts Jeremy Goldman and Jillian Ryan, along with junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch, discuss the work-from-anywhere future, how this years' Super Bowl will be unique, why some retailers are skipping returns, Spotify's emotion-based recommendations, what customers want from chatbots, the ideal length of time you should dunk your Oreo in milk, and more.

eMarketer principal analyst Jeremy Goldman, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss Spotify's strategic positioning as a complete podcasting ecosystem. They then talk about how much time Americans spend on their phones during their lifetime, why Alexa's asking follow-up questions, and what we can expect from the new "Apple One" bundle.

TV ad spending takes a hit as marketers adjust their budgets amid a recession.

Programmatic podcast ad spending, which we are forecasting for the first time this year, is growing at a fast rate from a small base.

Amazon Music will increase its user base by 18.5% to 45.8 million this year, which represents 21.3% of digital audio listeners, according to our latest estimates. As it continues to invest and grow its audio strategy, we expect Amazon Music will surpass Pandora in monthly listeners by 2023.

The pandemic put pressure on media budgets and changed users’ listening behaviors, forcing advertisers to restructure their audio strategies.

Digital radio spending has declined during the pandemic, which is in line with reduced advertiser demand. We do, however, expect growth to rebound by 26.8% next year.

eMarketer senior corporate account director Michael Civins, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss which music platforms Americans use and the growing significance of podcast listening. They then talk about whether TV networks are being too optimistic about H2, how many more voice assistants there are and movies going from theaters to digital platforms much faster.

The growing podcast audience in Canada has brands taking notice. Not only has the medium become a fixture in consumer media consumption, it’s also a sticky medium. Listeners consume podcasts heavily compared with other forms of informational media, and they are loyal to the hosts of their favorite shows.

Podcast listenership in the US has been soaring in recent years and advertising dollars are following. Podcast ad spending is a bright spot amid lackluster digital radio spending. According to eMarketer’s latest forecast, US podcast ad spending will surpass 20% of digital radio ad spending this year and cross the $1 billion mark next year.

eMarketer junior analyst Nina Goetzen and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle discuss changing Spotify listening behavior and the company's podcast investments, and they break down how it makes money. Then principal analyst Mark Dolliver joins the show to talk about what young people want from brands, what retailers need to know about shoppers ages 50 and older and the many ways the pandemic is harming children's health.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss TikTok's chances of not getting banned, Spotify video podcasts, Pandora's interactive voice ads, HBO Max sign-ups so far, TV ads in console games, why American farmhouses are typically painted red and more.

More than a third of adult consumers in Canada are podcast listeners, a growing and lucrative audience for brand engagement.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch, vice president of research Jennifer Pearson and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of working from home, Instagram for news, "Starbucks Pickup," YouTube's "Direct Response" ads, Spotify's interactive ads, the truth about shooting stars and more.

eMarketer junior analyst Blake Droesch, research analyst Daniel Keyes, principal analyst Andrew Lipsman and senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Cindy Liu discuss Pinterest's latest social commerce moves. They then talk about May retail sales, an app that makes you the model, Shopify's latest deal with Walmart and a Brandless relaunch.

US adult listeners will spend an average of about 34 minutes a day on podcasts, according to our latest estimates. Time spent is 2 minutes less than last year due to the pandemic's impact on listening behavior, but it should return to pre-contraction levels by 2022.