Podcasts are on the rise! More than half of Czechs listen to them at least once a week, and there are already more than eight thousand Czech ones. Last year alone more than 2,000 were added, which is nearly 200 every month. But by no means do they all last. The number of active podcasts is falling. This is confirmed by data from the Czech Statistical Office, our České podcasty platform and a survey by Evropa 2 radio.
The podcast scene is in full swing. Over the past year the number of podcasts grew by 18% and there are already 8,209 of them in the Czech Republic. New projects are appearing as if on a conveyor belt, as around 200 were added every month last year alone. That makes sense, because interest in podcasts keeps growing. According to Czech Statistical Office data from November 2024, 46% of people over 16 in the Czech Republic already listen to them.
Let us look a little deeper. We can say with confidence that podcasts appeal mainly to younger people. Among 16 to 24 year olds, 73% listen to them, and for 25 to 34 year olds it is just one percentage point less. Interestingly, podcasts mainly reach a more educated audience. Among university graduates 70% listen to them, while among people with only primary education it is just 35%. It follows that podcasts are a great way to reach a younger audience that is harder to reach with traditional media such as television. Television today keeps mainly older audiences in front of the screen, and its consumption among the rest of the population declines every year. Viewing has fallen most among young people: according to ATmedia data, total TV viewing time among people aged 15 to 24 alone fell by more than a tenth last year.
In short, podcasts are no longer just a trend but part of everyday life, as confirmed by Evropa 2 radio data, which we obtain as part of our music testing with the agency Median. More than half of people (52.6%) listen to them daily or several times a week. By the way, the data reveals one more interesting thing: there are far more loyal listeners than people who only listen occasionally. Only 19% of people listen a few times a month, while most keep coming back again and again. For creators this is a jackpot for building a community, and for advertisers a chance to reach a younger and more educated audience that classic advertising increasingly misses.
The number of active podcasts fell by 40% in a single year
Almost anyone can start a podcast today, but not everyone can keep it going over the long term. Although a record number of new podcasts were added last year, the number of active ones fell. By active we mean those that come out at least once every three months, and it is precisely these that are declining.
According to data from our České podcasty platform, in the second half of last year there were still more than two thousand active podcasts on the scene. Now there are “only” 959, a drop of 40% in a single year. So whoever thought everyone makes podcasts was right. But only a fraction of creators manage to sustain them.
That is why more and more of them now bet on closed series: a few episodes at once, a quick start and that is it. No long waiting for the next episode. That is how, for example, the podcast Plný kecky does it, and its popularity shows that this is the right direction.
Crime podcasts are leading by a mile
By far the most popular are crime podcasts, though. With an average popularity of 17.6%, they have topped the Evropa 2 survey ranking for several months. The winner in this category is the podcast Opravdové zločiny, a phenomenon that last year filled the O2 Arena and that 11.3% of respondents in our survey named.
Once again we borrow data from our České podcasty platform. Last year clearly showed a strong dominance of crime podcasts. The most visited profile was Hlasy zločinu, and the top ten includes four more: Krimi příběhy, Opravdové zločiny, Zloděje životů and Insta Crime podcast.
Comments