Podcast Listeners Just Ended the Audio vs Video Debate

The podcast industry has spent years arguing about whether podcasts are audio or video. The audience has already moved on. According to Acast's annual Podcast Pulse 2026 report, released this week, 88 percent of podcast listeners now consume both audio and video, up ten points from last year. Just 10 percent listen to audio only, and pure video accounts for 2 percent.

The survey, run by independent research firm Differentology, covered people aged 16 to 64 across 13 markets in August 2026. Its main message is that format has stopped being a choice at all. Listeners move between long-form audio, video feeds, and social clips depending on the moment. Acast chief executive Greg Glenday said the decision comes down to routine: driving at 7 in the morning or on the couch at 9 at night, rather than loyalty to a format.

The moment decides the format

The report puts the number at 78 percent of fans who use two or more formats, and describes switching as routine. Almost two-thirds, 63 percent, start an episode in one format and finish it in another, with three-quarters of those switchers changing apps mid-episode. For creators, the lesson is flexible reach: publishing across formats widens the audience, the report says, rather than forcing every show into video production. For advertisers, the potential audience is bigger than any single format can reach on its own.

Four moments that shape listening

Podcast Pulse 2026 groups listener behavior into four daily moments. Companion covers screen-free time: according to the survey, 64 percent say podcasts are a daily companion, and 80 percent of audio listeners act on something after an episode. Settled is the living room: 55 percent co-view video podcasts on a connected TV, making it the main screen moment for the medium, and 48 percent say video podcast ads lift brand recall.

Scroll covers discovery: social video clips are the biggest growth driver, with 63 percent of clip viewers going on to listen to full episodes. Live covers events: attendance at live podcast events is up 80 percent since 2024, with one in three fans attending. That crowd buys: 28 percent purchase from event sponsors and 34 percent post about the event themselves.

Trust in podcasters keeps climbing

The survey also measured trust, and podcasters came out ahead of every other creator type. Some 42 percent of podcast listeners trust brand and product recommendations from podcasters, up nine points on 2025. They were the only creator source to gain ground. Journalists held at 31 percent, YouTubers at 29 percent, while celebrities and social media influencers sat at 25 percent each.

For media buyers, the report frames format-hopping as a fix for ad decay. When podcast listeners encounter a brand across audio and social clips, one in three pays it maximum attention, which the report says beats repeating a message inside a single show. Glenday added that meeting a fan in one moment reaches part of their day, while meeting them across several reaches the whole person. The medium's pull on advertisers is visible elsewhere too: GenZ NewZ has reported on AI voice clones entering podcast advertising, another sign of where the money is going.

For brands, the report treats scattered attention as an opening. In a multi-format environment, context eases the industry's ad-decay problem: fans do not stay in one place, so a brand does not have to repeat itself in one place to be remembered. Acast says its own partnerships, from Apple Podcasts to network expansions such as Backyard Ventures, show what that open distribution looks like in practice.

The economics around all of this keep expanding. Podcasters sit inside a broader creator economy that keeps drawing young people in, as seen in GenZ NewZ's reporting on the Gen Z side hustle boom, where half of young business owners now work full-time on their ventures. For listeners, the practical upshot is that the show follows them from the morning drive to the evening couch, in whichever format fits the moment.

Acast, listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange under the ticker ACAST, describes itself as the world's largest pure-play podcast company. The company says it connects more than a hundred thousand podcast creators with thousands of advertisers worldwide, selling brands reach across audio, video, and social feeds rather than a single format.

Podcast Pulse 2026 is based on a survey of 4,300 people aged 16 to 64 in 13 markets, conducted by the independent research firm Differentology in August 2026. Figures describing all fans are based on the full sample, the report notes. The full report is published at acast.com/pulse.