(FORT WAYNE) – Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03) has officially launched his podcast, releasing Episode One on Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts.
Episode One features special guest Pastor Raymond Dix Jr. of Pilgrim Baptist Church of Fort Wayne. Together, they discuss reconciliation and issues related to race in America.
“In an era of 240 character tweets, fast-paced media segments and the 24-hour news cycle, podcasts have become an invaluable tool to slow down and consume longform content during a workout, a commute or at home relaxing. I hope that listeners will get to know more about my role as their representative, and I’d like to share with them the incredibly gifted people I get to work with in Indiana and beyond,” said Banks.
Podcasts by the Numbers*:
- 1 million and 30 million: There are more than 1 million active podcasts and more than 30 million podcast episodes worldwide.
- In 2018, these numbers stood at 550,000 and 18.5 million respectively. So, the figures are growing rapidly!
- Five: ‘News and Politics’ is among the top five most popular podcast genres.
- 24% and 37%: 24% (approx. 68 million people) of the U.S. population listens to a podcast weekly; 37%(approx. 104 million people) listen to podcasts at least once a month (though many listen to one podcast or another much more frequently than that).
- 155 million people: 55% of the US population, or approximately 155 million people, have listened to a podcast.
- 67%: Podcasting is most popular among young people, with 67% of the total podcasting audience being between 18 to 44 years old.
- 6 hours, 39 minutes: Weekly podcast listeners spend an average of 6 hours and 39 minutes listening to podcasts per week.
- $659 million: Podcast ad revenue grew exponentially from 2015 ($69 million) to 2018 ($402 million), with the growth forecast predicting a revenue of $659 million in 2020. That’s a jaw-dropping growth of nearly 1000% in just 5 years!
*These data come Nielsen and Edison and Apple Inc.’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)
