Listen to the social audio version of this blog on Limor. we would love to hear your thoughts in the voice comments.
Recent data shared by Rephonic.com has shown that traditional Podcast episodes are getting shorter.
Rephonic collects data across 2.5 million podcasts , including listener estimates, episode length and release frequency, to provide podcast insights.
At Limor we are often asked many questions by our users and the companies that we work with about their podcast production such as;
- How long should a traditional podcast episode be ?
- How often should they release each episode ?
The answers to these questions can of course vary massively depending on the person , the business, the genre , the budget and the time they have to commit to the podcast. Another key input is what does a podcaster aim to achieve with their podcast.
Also when you add Limor social audio casts into the mix which can be recorded and shared in minutes the conversation changes further. (Average Limor social audio cast length being 3–5mins)
Focusing on the traditional podcast format and not social audio the data provided by Rephonic.com helps to give an accurate answer to these questions.
The Rephonic.com data captured across 2.5million podcasts has shown that the average podcast episode length is now 36 minutes.
What they found was very interesting.
- Long podcast episodes are becoming less common every year
- The average top-performing podcast releases a 37-minute episode every 5 days
- Top performing podcasts being podcasts with more than 10,000 listeners per episode according to rephonic’s own estimates.
Over the past nine years, podcast episodes that are at least 60 minutes long have slowly but surely become less common.
60 minutes episodes made up over 20% of all podcast content in 2013,
They now represent less than 17% .
Why is this you may ask?
The answer is not know as of yet and Rephonic can only speculate. From our experience at Limor dealing directly with podcasters and social audio content creators time and budget seem to be a driving factor.
Average production and edit time for a 30–40min podcast can take up to 4–5 hours. The longer the episode the expense in effort, time and money, So making shorter episodes for the same results as a 60 min podcast would make logical sense. Less is more as we like to say at Limor.
With this knowledge at hand, when making shorter podcasts how can podcasters drive greater listener numbers to each episode ?
This is another key question we receive. With the average length of a podcast identified as being 36 mins and a clear indication that there is a decline in podcasts 60mins or longer Rephonic wanted to dive deeper and see if there were any patterns amongst podcasts that would help to drive greater success and a higher number of listens.
What they found was very interesting.
- Podcasts with guests get more listeners on average
- They usually record longer episodes
- And tend to get more followers on social media
For podcasts with guests, Rephonic found the average episode length to be 44 minutes — 8 minutes longer than the average across all podcasts.
Given that episodes with guests are often free-flowing conversations around pre-arranged topics, it makes sense that they tend to be slightly longer in duration. During this time, guests have an opportunity to build a relationship with listeners that can be nurtured off-air.
The average number of estimated weekly listeners across all podcasts is just over 5000, whereas for podcasts with guests its 6500. A 30% difference, this is great news if you regualary invite guests onto your podcast.
The average episode release frequency of top-performing shows is 5.3 days, but this figure varies from user to user and category to category.
The data might suggest that to attract a large audience you should stick to releasing a new 37 min episode every 5 days. But this isn’t going to be the right balance for all podcasters. Time and effort to stick to this content schedule can be taxing for most podcasters.
The length of your podcast and its release frequency should depend on the genre, niche, target audience, your availability, and how much great content you have. Traditional podcasting is time consuming so complementing your Podcast series with Limor social audio is a good option to maintain consistency of content delivery for your listeners.
The data from Rephonic.com gives a good indication of podcast length and that listeners prefer conversational episodes with guests.
Why don’t you find out yourself by starting your own interactive podcast with Limor.
Download the limor app from the app store or Google play store and register your profile.
With Limor you can instantly record edit and share your voice, and podcast.
Limor is a social audio platform, this means that you can talk directly with your audience in the voice comments section sparking real conversation , driving listens and interaction on your podcast.
If you are listening to this cast on Limor please do say hello in the voice comments section and leave any questions you may have it would be great to hear from you.
Listen to this blog on limor here.
