Digital News Report 2025 spotlight: distinctive UK podcast preferences emerge

Credit: Photo by Jonathan Farber on Unsplash

This article is adapted from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 with permission from the authors

In recent years news podcasts have steadily transitioned from niche audio diversions into strategically important formats for news organisations looking to build loyalty and frequency of use with more engaged audiences. 

While still a minority pursuit — only 9 per cent of people across 20 surveyed countries access news podcasts weekly — their unique ability to deliver depth, intimacy and analysis continues to attract investment from both established newsrooms and new entrants alike.

The latest findings from the Digital News Report 2025, published this week by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, show that national differences in production styles, platform preferences, and audience appetites are shaping podcast landscapes in markedly different ways. 

Proportion that consumed a news podcast in the last week – selected countries 

Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? Base: Total sample in each market ≈ 2000.

Transatlantic contrasts

In this year’s report the Reuters Institute, we undertook deep dive qualitative research in some countries to better understand the evolution of news podcasts.

The UK and US markets reveal pictures which exhibit some interesting differences. This is in spite of shared language and culture, meaning that podcasts can travel easily between both countries. (Notably, the BBC was cited by US respondents in this year’s report as one of the top three most cited podcast producers).

In the US, the podcasting ecosystem is arguably the most developed in the world. News podcasts there straddle a spectrum that includes analysis-driven formats from legacy brands — such as The Daily from the New York Times and NPR’s Up First — and a fast-growing cohort of personality-led shows that are often more opinion-driven and politically polarising.

The Joe Rogan Experience, MeidasTouch, and Pod Save America all rank among the most frequently mentioned news podcasts in the US, often blurring the lines between journalism and commentary. Many of these are filmed and consumed on YouTube, which now surpasses Spotify as the dominant podcasting platform across all age groups. 

Most mentioned news and politics podcasts by survey respondents in USA

In contrast, the UK podcast market presents a somewhat more moderated and institutionally anchored picture.

Podcast consumption in the UK is also below the global average in the Reuters Institute survey, with 7 per cent of respondents listening to a podcast weekly. The BBC is a major podcasting force — with Newscast and Americast both featuring prominently — alongside engaging but serious-minded formats from commercial providers such as The Rest is Politics (Goalhanger) and The News Agents (Global Media).

These formats suggest an appetite for expert-led, in-depth political conversation. UK audiences appear overall to favour thoughtful analysis over polarised point-scoring, even when commentary is involved. Though some of these shows incorporate video and social clips, the UK remains more audio-oriented than the US, and strong partisan opinion is less pronounced.

Most mentioned news and politics podcasts by survey respondents in UK

Platform choices further underscore these distinctions. While Spotify is the UK’s most-used podcast platform (41 per cent), BBC Sounds runs a close second at 37 per cent, particularly among older demographics.

In the US, YouTube dominates with 50 per cent reach, while Spotify is notably stronger among the 18–34 age group. YouTube’s position as the leading access point for podcasts in the US may help to explain why video podcasts are particularly popular for American audiences.

Northern echoes

In many ways, the UK podcasting scene is more similar to a rather closer neighbour.

The Norwegian podcasting market shares several structural and cultural characteristics with Britain’s, perhaps even more skewed toward legacy media dominance. In Norway, the public broadcaster NRK commands a strikingly high share of listenership — with its app NRK Radio used by nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of podcast listeners.

All of the top six most-mentioned news podcasts in the country come either from NRK or from two prominent newspapers, Aftenposten and VG.

Proportion of news podcast listeners who access podcasts via each platform - selected markets

Which of the following apps or websites do you mainly use to find and play podcasts? Please select all that apply. Base: News podcast listeners in USA = 304, UK = 153, Norway = 214.

Like UK listeners, Norwegian audiences show a preference for serious, information-led podcasts rather than opinion-led or influencer-driven formats. The Norwegian market is also less penetrated by creator-led or video-first podcasts — unlike the US, where personality and visual presence are increasingly key to success.

Despite the global trend toward video, Norway remains a brand-first, audio-first market — and its similarities to the UK suggest a broader northern European model that prioritises trusted institutions and content depth.

A commercial future?

Podcasts are becoming increasingly important strategically — both as a way to reach younger, more educated demographics, and as a potential revenue stream in their own right.

While only a small proportion of people say podcasts are their main source of news, their supplementary role — enhancing understanding and offering context — is highly valued. Some 73 per cent of news podcast listeners globally say the format helps them understand complex issues better than other types of media.

This depth of engagement appears to be translating into a willingness to pay. When asked, around two-fifths of news podcast listeners (39 per cent in the UK, 46 per cent in the US) say they would be open to paying a reasonable fee for news podcasts they value.

These figures support the idea that podcasting’s intimacy — the sense of direct connection with a host, the unhurried format, and habitual listening — makes it potentially well-suited for monetisation.

The most successful news publishers have already begun to experiment: The Economist has secured around 30,000 subscribers to its Podcast+ service at £5 per month, and the New York Times charges similarly for premium content, including back-catalogue access.

Commercial podcast providers are becoming more sophisticated in building paid membership bases for popular podcasts and audiences appear to be generally accepting of host-read programme sponsorships as another growing revenue source.

Looking ahead

As news organisations navigate the post-platform era — one defined by algorithmic disruption, falling web traffic, and ongoing commercial challenges — podcasts offer both promise and pitfalls. They excel at building relationships, cultivating loyalty, and delivering nuance — but they require patience, production investment, and, in many cases, talent that blurs the line between journalist and personality.

The shape of success will vary by market. In the US, news podcasting has become entangled with partisan ecosystems and social media virality. In the UK and Norway, the trajectory has been different: more frequently rooted in established institutions, generally more cautious in tone, and leaning more heavily on audio.

The challenge now is to harness these differences as strengths. For UK newsrooms, the goal is perhaps not be to imitate the spectacle of American podcasting, but to double down on what domestic audiences seem to value — credibility, depth, and analysis — while finding sustainable paths to monetisation.

Dr Craig T. Robertson is a postdoctoral research fellow who is a co-author of the Reuters Institute Digital News Report

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