One of the reasons I often hear as to why podcasting took off in the US is because of the poor choices available from radio.

Homogenized content and script-reading presenters wherever you listen are among the anecdotal statistics thrown about.

It’s never really been like that here in the UK. I think we still have a rich choice of good radio in this country, which may be one reason why podcasting hasn’t seen the proportionate scale of take-up as there has been in the US.

So I found it quite interesting to read a report from BrandRepublic quoting recent research by Ipsos Mori that radio and podcasting listening has increased in the UK over the past six months.

The really interesting part, though, concerns the influence podcast listening has on radio listening habits among those surveyed:

[…] Radio listening has also been improved by podcasts, with 15% admitting to listening to more radio since downloading podcasts. Another notable factor shows that 39% now listening to radio programmes that weren’t listened to previously.

[…] iTunes is the most popular choice for downloading podcasts, with almost three-quarters of podcast users downloading them from the Apple software.

Christel Lacaze, research manager at Rajar, said: “This survey gives a unique insight into the behaviour of the online/offline audio community and the impact of new audio delivery formats on traditional live radio listening.”

Good signs.

Related post:

• Is business podcasting dead?