About half a billion people around the world regularly listen to podcasts, the total number of which is about five million with no less than 70 million episodes. The entertainment industry enriches the listeners with knowledge, takes us on long trips and accompanies us during sports activities - but it has another, less well-known consequence.
A new study by Prof. Yair Galili and Prof. Tal Samuel-Ezran from the School of Communication at Reichman University found that one of the consequences of the appearance of podcasts is the widening of the social gap.
The study examined whether the consumption of podcasts, which is mainly associated with the upper class, expands in this class also to podcasts that are not "elitist", for example in areas such as sports.
Men, secular, millennials.
The listeners to sports podcasts.
Argentina's victory in the World Cup (archive), photo: AFP
entertainment and escapism
The researchers found that listening to sports podcasts only emphasizes the elitist nature of podcast consumers.
This is, among other things, because information-rich groups tend to tune in more to acquire information, while other groups used it more for entertainment and escapism purposes.
"We examined the listeners of the three popular podcasts in Israel in the field of sports, and examined their demographics. Most of them are secular men, members of the millennial generation, with an above-average income."
"The figure highlights the elitist nature of sports podcast consumers," the researchers explain.
"The study's conclusions reinforce the notion that the podcast platform mainly attracts those who are already rich in information, thus helping to increase knowledge and digital gaps," explains Prof. Galili, founder and director of the Sports, Communication and Society Research Laboratory at Reichman University.
To sum it up in simple words, listeners from a high socioeconomic status also listen to podcasts that are considered simpler, from the field of sports for example.
"True, and this is how the already wide knowledge gap between the different populations in Israel, some of whom do not listen to podcasts at all, increases."
A clear connection between pay and listening (archive),
More genres
The researchers shared how they envision the podcast format to evolve in the future.
"It can be assumed that podcasts will expand to wider populations. We see that in recent years more genres of podcasts are emerging such as comedies, horror and more. We estimate that the podcast industry will continue to expand to more populations, so that everyone can find themselves in it, which may help to reduce social gaps ".
What do you think is the connection between pay and listening to podcasts?
Prof. Ezran: "In previous studies, the salary element was attached and they saw that people with higher salaries, those who work in high-tech, are more likely to listen to podcasts. From this we can assume the connection that exists between salary and listening."
Prof. Galili: "Our analysis identified that those who are more educated and earn a higher salary, are more likely to tune in and listen to podcasts, thus increasing the gaps from their peers in the same group."
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