Is the popularity of podcasting losing steam in Quebec? According to a recently released survey, the number of people who say they listen to podcasts has stagnated over the past year. Unprecedented for this media, which had experienced frantic growth in previous years.
In a survey carried out by the Media Technologies Observatory (OTM) in spring 2023, around a quarter of French-speakers in the country said they had listened to podcasts in the last month. This is much more than when this survey was carried out for the first time, in the fall of 2018, when this audio format reached only 12% of respondents.
But 26% of French speakers who are fans of podcasting is exactly the same number as in fall 2022, and barely 1% more than a year ago. In other words, podcasting is stalling and seems unable to expand its audience.
“These are not surprising numbers. During the pandemic, when everything was closed, many turned to podcasts, which explains why the number of listeners increased so quickly in such a short period of time. This lull was expected with the return to normal,” puts Julien Morissette, co-founder of the Digital Radio Festival, into perspective.
Every year, since 2017, the various players in podcasting in Quebec meet at the end of April in Outaouais as part of this event, an opportunity to reflect on the future of this media which has completely reshuffled the cards of audio industry in recent years.
Hollow wave for narrative podcasts
Seeing all the frenzy around podcasting even today, Julien Morissette is not so concerned about his future. No, it’s not a fashion, he wants to clarify.
Podcasts hosted by comedians — Listening, by Mike Ward, in the lead — continue to be a hit on different platforms. The same goes for those presented by influencers and other social media stars. In recent months, we have even seen TV hosts, like Marie-Claude Barrette or Denis Lévesque, launch their own podcast where they interview different personalities. “Conversational podcasts are going really well. I really don’t see any slowdown, especially since most of them are filmed and YouTube values this genre a lot in its algorithm,” remarks Julien Morissette.
“Where I worry more is about scripted and narrative podcasts, which require a lot more resources. In this case, I really notice that there is a slowdown,” notes the man who is also artistic director of the podcast production company Transistor.
Radio-Canada, which also announced cuts Tuesday in its digital audio service, is the only major broadcaster in Quebec to focus on heavier podcast formats. Just think of successful series, like The worst moments in history, hosted by comedian Charles Beauchesne. Or In troublea new podcast on eating disorders hosted by journalist Geneviève Garon.
When the Qub platform was launched in 2018, Quebecor was also interested in this format, which resembles a TV show more than a radio show due to its editing and sound design. This is less true today. Cogeco and Bell have never really subscribed to this type of content. This is what made Julien Morissette say that public institutions should better financially support the production of podcasts to encourage major players to invest in this market.
“These are conversational podcasts that don’t cost much to produce. But it can’t just be that, podcasting in Quebec. In the same way as in audiovisual, it takes public money to have films by Stéphane Lafleur or Xavier Dolan. Otherwise there would only be reality shows. In podcasts, it should be the same thing. If we want to innovate, we need institutions to start considering us, because at the moment, the aid available is really minimal,” he argues.
Behind the Anglos
For Julien Morissette, the future of the Quebec podcasting sector is at stake. Otherwise, listeners will end up turning to the abundant American offering. But which also faces stagnation in the number of listeners. That said, “in the United States too, we notice that the number of listeners has reached a plateau. On the other hand, we see that listening time is still increasing. Those who already listened to podcasts are listening to even more. There are no figures on listening time here,” underlines Louise Hélène Paquette, associate researcher at the HEC Montréal Media Center.
The podcasting market remains much more developed among the Anglo-Saxons, and this is reflected in listening habits in Canada. If, in 2022, 26% of French speakers in the country said they listen to podcasts, this proportion rose to 39% on the English side, again according to OTM data.
The OTM, a division of Radio-Canada, surveys Canadians’ digital consumption of audio content every six months. In the latest survey, conducted in the spring of 2023 and published last month, it turns out, unsurprisingly, that podcasts remain a medium that mainly reaches young people. In the month preceding the OTM survey, more than half of French speakers aged 18 to 35 reported having listened to podcasts, compared to 33% in the 35 to 49 age group.
Among older people, listening to podcasts is still marginal. Only 15% of French speakers aged 50 to 64 and 7% of those aged 65 and over are fans. This shows that there may still ultimately be a market for podcasting to conquer.
“Facebook initially spoke to the youngest people and ended up winning over the older people after a while. No doubt it will be the same for the podcast. But for that, we will need a sufficient supply of podcasts aimed at older people; I don’t see that at the moment in Quebec. Perhaps because advertisers are less interested in older people,” observes Louise Hélène Paquette.