Are podcasts the new path to diversifying public radio?

[Commentary] Late in April at the first-ever podcast upfront in New York City, NPR unveiled a study showing that nearly 33 percent of its podcast audience is comprised of people of color. This is significant in light of public radio’s long struggle with trying to reach more diverse audiences, particularly African American, Latino, and Asian American listeners. While NPR is touting its success in expanding into new audiences, podcasts, generally, are growing among more digitally savvy audiences, which also happen to be more diverse.

While 87 percent of NPR’s terrestrial public radio’s audience is white, that number drops to 67 percent for NPR podcasts. Don’t get me wrong, public radio is still mighty white -- but it is finally making gains among more diverse listeners, particularly younger listeners who are used to receiving content digitally. Young audiences are generally also more diverse, the type of listeners advertisers want. For NPR, making audience gains has also meant doubling its podcasting revenue, which is why it took center stage at April’s upfront for advertisers.

[Tracie Powell writes about the media and media policy, specifically on issues regarding piracy, media ownership, government transparency and the business of journalism]