How Long Should A Weekly Podcast Be?

Before we answer this question, I think it’s important to note of a couple of things when it comes down to the length of your podcast. You really should start exploring the following options before deciding on a length of a podcast. 

WHERE IS YOUR PODCAST LISTENER LISTENING FROM?

Is it going to be in the car?

Is it going to be at the gym?

Is it out on a walk?

Is it gonna be just strictly at home?

This will determine how long you should create your podcast--not exclusively, though.

Lucky for you, I’ve done the research for you.

This research comes from a 2017 Edison Research survey. 

According to this survey, Edison reported--back in 201--that the average podcast listener listens to a podcast for about 30 minutes.

Fast forward to 2017, the average podcast listener is listening to a podcast that is about an hour long. 

That means, for you, depending on what your topic is all about, how will you lengthen your podcast?

Which type of topics should you come up with within your podcast?

How should you structure your podcast?

In the same report, Edison reported that most listening of podcast happen at home. 51% of the respondents said they listen at home, with 22% of the respondents saying they listen in the car.

We can surmise from the data that listening in a vehicle follows close second to listening at home.

So, your listener is going to be listening to their programs where they have time to burn.  For Americans, this is typically on the road in traffic or at home cleaning, cooking or working on a side project.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE LIKE YOU KNOW YOURSELF

You should have an idea in your head of knowing where your listener is going to be listening to your podcast.

This could be based off the type of podcast that you are creating.

Perhaps you enjoy bowhunting; your listener may be more of the outdoorsy type that listens on their drives between towns. 

Or it could be that one person who works a corporate job, but spends time at home working in a shop or is looking to get educated. 

Knowing your audience well may also determine how you structure out your podcast. 

Is your podcast content organized?  

HOW MUCH OF THE PODCAST IS LISTENED TO?

Now, if we’re gonna dive a little deeper into statistics, I think it’s also important to know that listeners who listen to podcast, listen to more than most of the podcast.

Most of the podcast could mean they listen to most of podcast except for the last five minutes, maybe it could be the last 10 minutes – 44% of the respondent said they listen to most of the podcast where 42% on the people said they listen to the entire podcast.

What do you need to do to create a podcast that will last about, I would say, 40-50 minutes?

What are you going to structure in your podcast?

Are you just going to talk and let the conversation roll where it needs to go? 

Unless you’re someone like Joe Rogan or Chris Hardwick, you’re probably going to need some type of structure because the people who are going to be coming in and listening to your podcast are going to be brand new.

Preferably, you are representing yourself in the best possible way when it comes to listening to your podcast. 

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET MORE EXPOSURE TO YOUR PODCAST?

I’ve got a really good video on this thing called an Audiogram (you can check it out here). It's where you can take a piece of audio from your podcast and put into a video format where the waveforms move inside of your video based on who is speaking in that particular piece of audio.

It draws attention to your social media post, so that people can get a taste of what they can expect when they listen to your podcast. You may want to check it out.

I hope this post has provided you a few answers or, at least, some insight as to how long your podcast should be.