People are leaving traditional radio behind for on Internet radio and podcasting, but a new UK study suggests that radio stations that embrace podcasting can actually grow their audiences.

Research firm Ipsos Mori has found that 10% of those surveyed said they listened to less live radio after starting to download podcasts. However, 15% said they listened to more live radio since they began downloading podcasts, and 39% said they were listening to radio programs they did not listen to previously.

Other highlights of the research:

• Podcast listening occurs throughout the day, with an evening peak when 44% of podcast users click on the play button. A total of 83% of podcast users now listen to content that is more than a week old.
• 6 million people in the UK have now downloaded a podcast – up from 4.3 million in November 2007. And 3.7 million now say they listen to a podcast each week, up from 1.87 million in last year’s survey.
• The average podcast user subscribes to 3.6 podcasts and spends just over an hour a week listening to them. Comedy and music continue to be the two favorite genres.
• iTunes remains the preferred software for almost three-quarters of users who subscribe to podcasts, while a fifth simply download directly from the website via their browser.
• 79% of people listen to podcasts on their home computer and 66% listen via a portable audio/mp3 player.
• 53% said they would be interested in downloading podcasts containing advertising if they were free.
• Only 31% responded positively to the idea of podcasts without adverts that had to be paid for.

Image: Thomas Hawk