The UK Podcast Consumer 2026, from Edison Research at SSRS, reveals the changing dynamics of audience distribution, video consumption, and AI in UK podcasting.
Senior Research Director Gabriel Soto presented the findings in a live online presentation earlier today.
Key Findings:
Top podcasts continue to grow in reach.
The top 29 shows reach 50% of UK weekly podcast consumers ages 15+, compared with 2023 when the top 43 shows were needed to reach half of the UK weekly podcast audience. The top 10 titles in the UK reach 33% of all UK weekly podcast consumers ages 15+.
“The growing audiences of the top shows are a product of being mainstream,” said Soto, referring to the milestone that UK podcasting hit in 2025, when The Infinite Dial UK reported that over 50% of the UK population had become monthly podcast consumers. “Being mainstream comes with the rise of casual consumers, those who discover podcasts because of the most popular shows, and then find themselves at the gateway of podcasting’s smaller shows.”
While shows at the very top reach a larger share of the UK’s podcast consumers, titles with smaller audiences have benefitted from the mediums’ overall growth. The 67th biggest show in 2023 reached 75,000 Brits weekly; the 67th biggest show in 2026 reaches 139,000 Brits weekly, nearly twice as many consumers.
YouTube surpasses Spotify as the UK’s preferred podcast platform.
Twenty-nine percent of weekly podcast listeners ages 15+ choose YouTube as the service they use most to consume podcasts, surpassing Spotify (28%) for the first time on record. Fifteen percent of UK podcast consumers use BBC Sounds, the BBC’s dedicated audio streaming platform, as their primary service.
Podcast consumption in the UK is still audio-dominant, despite a significant surge in video podcast consumers. The number of video podcast consumers has grown from 58% of UK weekly podcast consumers actively watching video in 2023 to 72% in 2026. Yet audio consumption is the leading format — 87% of UK podcast consumers report listening only to audio podcasts without video.
Advertising on UK podcasts can connect you with American consumers.
The top 10 UK-based podcasts in the US, those featuring a British host or published by a UK-based company, reach 3.5 million Americans ages 13+ each week.
Podcast consumers have strong feelings about generative AI in podcast creation.
British consumers are largely open to AI handling behind-the-scenes podcast production: 66% of UK weekly podcast consumers ages 15+ approve of AI being used to conduct research, and 64% approve of AI being used to brainstorm ideas; 85% disapprove of AI hosting the podcast.
The majority of UK listeners see AI as a threat to podcasting.
Seventy-two percent of UK weekly podcast consumers consider AI a threat to the credibility of podcasts; 64% see it as a threat to creativity, and 63% deem it a threat to quality.
Smart TVs are nearing computers as devices for podcast consumption.
The number of UK weekly podcast consumers ages 15+ who listen to podcasts most often on a smart TV has doubled since 2023: 4% listened most often on a smart TV in 2023 compared to 10% who listen most often on a smart TV, and 14% who listen most often on a computer in Q1 2026.
About the study:
Edison Podcast Metrics™ is unique in that it is not dependent on podcast download data and does not require podcast networks to opt into its service. At least 2,000 weekly podcast consumers in the UK are surveyed each quarter, and listening behavior is collected regardless of listening platform. The same methodology is being employed in the UK as is used in the U.S.
Data from Edison Podcast Metrics™ UK provides show-level information on the top podcasts in the UK. Subscribers can analyze demographics, psychographics, and purchase-behavior information of weekly podcast consumers. The first Top Podcast Shows ranker in the U.S. was released by Edison Research in November 2019; the company has been tracking podcast consumption in the aggregate since 2006.
For more information on how to become a subscriber to the full datasets, please contact us.
About Edison Research at SSRS
Edison Research at SSRS conducts survey research and provides strategic information to a broad array of clients worldwide, having conducted research in 66 countries. Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial® series has been the survey of record for digital audio, social media, podcasting, smart speakers, and other media-related technologies since 1998. The company’s Share of Ear® survey is the only single-source measure of all audio in the U.S. Edison Research is the leading podcast research company in the world, producing the only survey-based data on podcast listening in the U.S., Edison Podcast Metrics, and has conducted research for many companies in the space.