5 Things We Learned About Podcasters This Summer

Every week, we ask our 29k newsletter subscribers a quick poll question.

This helps us (and you!) do a few things:

• It helps us learn more about independent podcasters‘ aspirations, processes, and opinions about the podcasting industry.
• It gives us insight into the challenges podcasters like you are currently facing, so we can work out how we might be able to help.
• It gives you the opportunity to get your voice heard on industry topics (and even get a promotional link back to your podcast in the process!).

Here’s a roundup of what we learned from the data this summer.

5 Things We Learned About Podcasters Summer 2025

1. Creators still love the term ‘podcast’ 💛

We asked indies whether they agree with Max Cutler that the term “podcasts” is becoming outdated. He argues that podcasts have evolved so much that the community needs to move with it. He’s calling for podcasts to be renamed “shows” so the term encompasses video and other content, too.

Turns out this is a debate that a lot of creators care about – it was the most popular poll we’ve run to date!

And here’s what the jury’s verdict looked like:

There were a load of great comments from podcasters too – you can read some of them in the full piece: “Podcasting Is Dead. Long Live The Show”?

2. Many podcasters have run multiple shows 🤯

We ran a poll to find out how many podcasts creators have generally run in their careers.

Surprisingly, only 36% of those who responded said they’ve stuck to the one show concept their entire podcasting journey, while 9% have launched more than 10 (ten!) in their career.

A large slice of the respondents (35%) said they’re still in the planning stage of their show.

If you’re part of that 35% still in the pre-launch stage, Colin ran a live session this month specifically aimed at helping creators get a new show over the line. You can watch the replay of the Live Launch Lab here.

3. Podcasters think we need to champion audio more 🎧

At The Podcast Show, we asked industry folks the question: Do we need to champion spoken-word audio in a world of video hype? 

We got a wide range of sharp, surprising, and opinionated responses. But we also wanted to hear from independent podcasters. So, we asked. Here’s what you said:

A massive 91% of you said yes, we do still need to champion audio, while 9% said it wasn’t an issue.

The general vibe from those who said action wasn’t needed was that audio isn’t at threat and is strong enough to “take care of itself.”

4. Podcasting budgets vary widely 💰

We asked podcasters how much they roughly spend on running their podcast each month. Monthly outgoings can include anything from hosting costs and software subscriptions to marketing budgets.

What we learned is that budgets vary widely, but $20-39 per month seems to be the sweet spot, with 28% saying they spend that amount each month to run their show.

A considerable 16% said they run their podcast on no budget at all.

5. Few podcasters know about funding opportunities 🤑

Monthly budgets aside, we asked podcasters if they had ever applied for any funding or grants to support their shows.

We were surprised to learn that as many as 41% of indies didn’t even know this was an option. Only 24% of those podcasters we surveyed said they’d ever applied for any sort of funding for their show, with 18% being successful.

If you’re a podcaster in the UK or the USA, we’re currently pulling together a list of some of the best funding opportunities available to you. Sign up for the Perspectives newsletter to get the guide in your inbox as soon as it’s live!