The main findings on UK digital media consumption from Infinite Dial UK 2025 were announced last week at a London podcast show.
Gabriel Soto, currently senior director of research at Edison Research, and Ollie Chadwick, regional director of Adszwaz, UK & Ireland, shared additional insights from the research earlier today.
The Infinite Dial UK 2025 report reveals that weekly podcast listening in the UK has increased significantly, growing within just 2% points in the US. It also highlights the rapid growth of digital audio consumption and technology ownership among UK adults.
According to the survey, 39% of people over the UK age of 16, or about 19 million people listen to podcasts every week. That figure is up from 25% in 2021, close to the current US figure of 41%. Additionally, 6% said they saw the podcast last week without listening to it.
Online audio listening has also grown. 74% of UK adults (approximately 36 million) streamed audio last week from 66% in 2021, and now just above the US figure 72%.
The trend in device ownership highlights this digital shift. UK smart speaker ownership has almost doubled since 2021, with at least one ownership of at least 45% of people over the age of 16.
Amazon Alexa leads at 37%, with Google Home leading at 16% and Apple HomePod leading at 5%. Ownership of smartwatches and wireless headphones has also skyrocketed, but ownership of traditional radios has declined.
On social media, platforms like Facebook, X and LinkedIn have a higher reach than the US and the UK. However, usage has changed as Instagram and Tiktok have acquired status as the most used platforms.
Edison's Infinite Dial UK is an industry benchmark for media consumption habits, directly compared to digital media trends in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
This research is sponsored by SiriusXM Media and Adswizz and can be downloaded and viewed here.
