What counts as a podcast splits Gen Z and older listeners

Ask a room of podcast fans what counts as a podcast and the answers will split by age. New research from GWI, reported by PodcastingToday on October 24, puts numbers on a disagreement the industry has argued about for two years: younger listeners treat video and short clips as podcasts, while older listeners hold closer to audio only. The findings land at a moment when platforms keep pushing video episodes and clips into feeds. The definition decides which shows get discovered, so it is a practical question for producers, not a matter of taste.

In the previous month, 40.4% of Gen Z and 39.1% of Millennials consumed podcasts in both audio and video, compared with 25.1% of Gen X. That gap matters because a show that publishes audio only reaches the younger audience in just one of the formats they already use. Younger listeners move between watching and listening without treating the two as separate habits, and a show built for one screen misses the other half of their attention. Producers who plan for both formats from the start are meeting the audience where it already is, according to the research.

Video or audio only

Asked what counts as a podcast, 41.8% of Gen Z said a video recording on a video platform counts as a podcast, against 37.8% who said podcasts must be audio only. Gen X split almost evenly, with 35% accepting video recordings and 36% holding the audio-only line. The split means the same show can look like a podcast to one listener and a talk show to another, depending on birth year. Producers who describe their work as a podcast are speaking to an audience that no longer shares one meaning for the word, and that mismatch shows up in charts, search results, and recommendations.

Short clips widen the gap further. Almost three in ten Gen Z respondents count short clips cut from longer shows as podcasts, compared with 26.5% of Millennials and 20% of Gen X. For younger listeners, a clip is often the first contact with a show, and sometimes the only contact. Discovery now happens in feeds where a minute of video can stand in for a full episode, which changes what counts as listening in practice even if it does not change the dictionary definition. A producer who ignores clips is invisible in the place where the youngest listeners do most of their finding.

AI disclosure is common ground

Artificial intelligence draws a second dividing line, this time over awareness rather than format. Among respondents, 44.8% of Gen X did not know AI can be used in podcast editing, voice work or scripting, against 28.1% of Gen Z. Millennials were the most comfortable with the technology: 45.7% of those aware of its use said they were comfortable with it. Gen Z showed more unease, with 29.1% aware of AI production but uncomfortable with it, compared with 22.4% of Millennials and 22.7% of Gen X. The pattern cuts against a simple story about younger listeners embracing every change. The generation most open to new formats is also the most uneasy about how shows get made.

Disclosure is where the generations agree. Between 59% and 64% of respondents in each generation rated disclosure of AI use as very or fairly important, with Gen X most likely to call it very important. For producers, that makes a short disclosure note a practical trust measure rather than a legal footnote. Listeners across ages want to know when a voice or an edit came from a machine, and a show that says so plainly gives its audience one less reason to doubt it. The report includes commentary from GWI chief insight officer Jason Mander.

What producers should take from it

The practical takeaway is unglamorous. Film the episode and cut the clips, and say when AI helped make it. A show that stays audio only still reaches Gen X listeners who prefer that format, but it gives younger listeners nothing to watch and nothing to share in a feed. A show that films everything and hides its AI use risks the one thing all three generations agree on, which is disclosure. What counts as a podcast will keep shifting with the platforms, and the producers who track how each generation uses the word will have the easier time being found. The full findings are reported by PodcastingToday, with a summary from PodSubs.

Related coverage: Film It or Miss Out: How Gen Z Podcasters Can Finally Get Paid and Podcast Ad Fatigue Is Real, and Listeners Are Skipping.

Sources: PodcastingToday and PodSubs.