The first edition of the Podcast in Romania study, conducted by BRAT (Romanian Transmedia Audit Bureau) with the support of Thinkdigital, at the initiative of Banca Transilvania, reveals surprising, positive data about the consumption of digital audio content.

The results of the study carried out between June 17 and July 1 this year were presented today, July 8, at the first event dedicated to this new industry, Podfest:

• 37.8% of Romanians aged 16 to 50 consume online audio content in podcast format. In absolute terms, that means 3.2 million people.
• Podcasts are listened to—and, importantly, also watched in video versions—especially in cities (44%), but also in rural areas (29%).
• Men lean slightly more toward this format: 54.3% of listeners.
• People in the target group spend 8.4 hours per month listening to podcasts (10 episodes on average).
• Most Romanians listen to podcasts at home, and the most used platform—perhaps surprisingly—is YouTube (over 90%), followed by Facebook (45%). Next come Spotify (31.4%), Google Podcasts (28%) and other dedicated audio platforms.
• 73.6% accept, or consider useful, the advertising moments in podcasts, as this is an emerging market and the ads are often integrated or related to the topic discussed.
• The average household income of podcast listeners is around 1,000 euros, and 30% of listeners have higher education.
• The most well-known podcasts are produced by familiar names. In the survey answered by almost 4,000 people, of whom 2,000 listen to podcasts, topping the list, at 36.4%, was the podcast "Starea Natiei" with Dragos Patraru, followed by "Romania, stii bine" produced by the ProTV team (27.2%), ESCA, produced by Andreea Esca (25.4%), then podcasters such as Laurentiu Mihai and Sorin Amzu with "Banii Vorbesc" (19.9%), MCN Podcast with comedian Cosmin "Micutu" Nedelcu (19.9%) and George Buhnici with the CuriosITy podcast (19.6%).
• The full ranking—which also includes other comedians, specialists from various fields and journalists—together with a series of relevant findings about the podcast market, can be consulted in the preview of the report presented today, which can be downloaded from the Thinkdigital website -> a project partner that operates the first digital audio advertising network for podcasts.

"In recent times, new media have become relevant to the public and are starting to attract the attention of clients and advertising agencies, who need credible, accurate information on which to base their strategic communication decisions. The time for intuitions and personal beliefs about these new media has passed; it is time for them to become the subject of studies and to be analyzed in comparison with other media," Arina Ureche, General Manager of BRAT and coordinator of the study. 

"I hope our initiative helps both creators—from specialists in different fields, celebrities and influencers to studios or radio stations—and companies interested in the new audio formats. We found reliable partners in BRAT, Thinkdigital and Dragos Stanca, and we managed to get the study up and running in record time," Sergiu Mircea, Executive Director, Marketing, Communications and PR at Banca Transilvania.

Banca Transilvania launched the BT Talks podcast in December 2019, as part of BT’s 360° communications, featuring conversations with relevant guests from different industries and from the bank’s team. The most recent guests are Bogdan Buta — founder of UNTOLD and Neversea, Simona Halep and Radu Muntean — director.

Download the Podcast in Romania study