I've been listening to podcasts since before most people knew what to call them. Back then, it was simple: you downloaded an audio file, stuck in your earbuds, and listened while you drove or walked or did the dishes. Easy.

Turns out, that definition is falling apart. And depending on whether you're Gen Z, a Millennial, or Gen X, you might not even agree on what counts as a podcast anymore.

New research from GWI dug into this, and the results are a little wild. They found that Gen Z and Millennials are way more likely than Gen X to watch podcasts on video, not just listen to them. We're talking 40.4% of Gen Z and 39.1% of Millennials consuming podcasts in both audio and video form in the past month, compared to just 25.1% of Gen X.

So what's actually happening here? The podcast is turning into something closer to a talk show. Jason Mander, Chief Insight Officer at GWI, put it this way: people are moving from the classic commute-and-listen experience toward a "lean-forward video-first approach." That's a fancy way of saying people want to watch Joe Rogan's face while he talks, not just hear his voice.

Here's where it gets interesting. Nearly 42% of Gen Z thinks a video on a platform like YouTube counts as a podcast. Meanwhile, 37.8% of that same generation insists a podcast has to be audio only. They can't even agree with themselves. Gen X is a bit more split down the middle too, with 35% accepting video and 36% sticking to audio-only purism.

And then there's the clip question. Scroll through social media and you'll find fifteen-second snippets from hour-long podcast episodes everywhere. Almost 30% of Gen Z calls those clips podcasts in their own right. Only 20% of Gen X agrees.

I get why this split exists. When I started traveling full-time back in 2017, I had to rethink a lot of assumptions I'd carried around for decades. What counts as "home"? What counts as "work"? Turns out, those definitions were more flexible than I thought. Same thing's happening here with podcasts. The format is loosening up, and each generation is drawing the line somewhere different.

Then there's AI, which is scrambling things even more. Nearly 45% of Gen X didn't even realize AI could be used for editing, scripting, or voice production in podcasts. That number drops to 28.1% for Gen Z, who clearly pay closer attention to the tech behind the scenes.

But awareness doesn't equal comfort. Millennials are the most at ease with AI in podcast production, with 45.7% of those who know about it saying they're fine with it. Gen Z, interestingly, is the most skeptical, with 29.1% saying they're aware of AI's use but uncomfortable with it.

What everyone does agree on? Transparency matters. Across all three generations, somewhere between 59% and 64% said it's important for producers to disclose when AI is involved. Gen X cared about this the most.

I find that reassuring, honestly. I've experimented with new tools and technology plenty of times over the years, and I've learned the same lesson every time: people don't mind innovation, they mind being kept in the dark about it. Tell people what you're doing and most will roll with it.

The differences don't stop at listening habits. Gen Z is more likely to comment in podcast communities, follow hosts on social media, and pay for ad-free content. Millennials, on the other hand, are the merch buyers of the bunch, with 40.9% saying they've bought or would consider buying podcast merchandise, compared to 33.4% of Gen Z and just 22.5% of Gen X.

So what's the takeaway if you make podcasts, or if you're just someone who loves listening to them? There's no such thing as "the" podcast audience anymore. There are several audiences, overlapping and diverging in ways that don't fit neatly into any one box.

Mander summed it up well: producers who plan around a single assumed audience are just guessing. The real story is in the data, in the specifics, in the people behind the numbers.

Which, come to think of it, is pretty much how I've approached travel for the better part of a decade. Don't assume. Go find out. The format's always changing. Might as well stay curious about where it goes next.

Source: PodcastingToday

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