Renewed Popularity: Podcasts see massive boom in listeners and investment in US

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Podcasts have been around for years, and they were taken over by new audio apps one by one. But in the United States, podcasts seem to have started a second round of popularity. Why is that? CGTN's Phil Lavelle finds out from Los Angeles.

Listen up. Because more and more of us are. One in three in the US now is tuning into podcasts each month, say researchers. Perhaps that's why the industry's getting pumped with cash.

Spotify, leading the way: up to five hundred million dollars were just spent on leading podcast producers.

This streaming music company is looking beyond the music now.

HERNAN LOPEZ FOUNDER OF PODCAST PUBLISHER WONDERY "Spotify published a blog saying we are not only a music company, we're now also an audio company."

Buoyed on by the numbers, maybe. Listener figures are expected to grow dramatically in the coming years. Up from 287 million in 2016 to 1.85 billion in 2023. Google launched its own service last year. And the BBC is making it a major focus of its offerings now.

PHIL LAVELLE LOS ANGELES "The thing is, the podcast isn't some new invention. It's been around for around 15 years. The word 'pod' comes from iPod. They've been on smartphones for at least a decade. And yet, it now seems to be its time."

ILIZA SCHLESINGER PODCASTER "I think a podcast gives you a sort of raw, often times unfiltered access to information."

Perhaps that's why - in a world of divided politics, and all those allegations of. It is a way of tuning out the noise - and hearing what YOU want to hear.

ILIZA SCHLESINGER PODCASTER "I think people gravitate towards that sort of intimate experience. It's like a book. You can pick out anyone that pertains to you. It's not like there's a couple of news channels out there and you can get your information that way and so it's really like a choose-your-own-adventure."

PHIL LAVELLE LOS ANGELES "The big challenge for the industry is how it makes money See, the thing about podcasts is - anyone can do it. A mic, an internet connection, and off you go. It's not typically the kind of thing people are likely to pay for."

PHIL "How is the money made? Because podcasts are free, right?"

HERNAN LOPEZ FOUNDER OF PODCAST PUBLISHER WONDERY "Yes, the vast majority of money comes from advertising. For us, that's over 80% of our revenue. But there's a growing revenue model by us and other companies that come from turning our shows into television."

And those are shows like Homecoming - Julia Roberts' Amazon series which came from a podcast.

And Dirty John - more than fifty million downloads - accompanied by a TV show.

Big producers like Wondery here in Los Angeles are pumping out podcast hit after hit in partnership with TV studios.

HERNAN LOPEZ FOUNDER, 'WONDERY' "If you think of television, for decades, there was only free television, then cable television came into existence, same with digital news. Most people thought that digital news would be free until organizations like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal started to implement paywall. That same thing, I think, will start with podcasting."

And so, this medium has its day, its play. All eyes and ears on the podcast as it finally comes of age.

Phil Lavelle. CGTN, Los Angeles.