Podcasts might be the next big trend in Taiwan, a survey showed.
The study conducted by podcast platform Soundon said that the number of podcast programs last year increased by about 300, while the first half of this year has seen 870 more programs, adding that the first podcasts have been established as early as 2000.
The podcast scene grows by 100 programs per month, it said, adding that the total number of programs in Taiwan is 1,336.
The majority of new programs can be grouped into two categories — fashion and arts, or society and culture, Soundon said, adding that the growth in news and personal optimization programs remains low.
However, Soundon estimates that such programs would see more demand in the coming years.
Eighty percent of listeners favor talk show formats, the platform’s statistic showed.
While the majority of podcast listeners is female — about 60 percent — the average age of the audiences is between 23 and 32, with more than 95 percent of listeners having a college degree, Soundon said.
At least 50 percent of those listening to podcasts tune in at least five days a week, with an average daily listening time of 31 minutes to an hour, it added.
The podcast medium has taken off within the past two years, as 90 percent of participants in the survey have started listening within this time frame, Soundon said.
Compared with YouTube viewers, podcast audiences appear to be more loyal, with 95 percent of respondents having a preferred program and 70 percent willing to introduce friends or family to their favorite show.
Soundon cited 60 to 80 percent of the respondents as saying that they usually listen to the entirety of a podcast episode — 20 percent more compared with YouTube.
Podcast listeners are also more willing to pay for content, with 60 percent inclined to subscribe to channels and 50 percent saying that they have paid for content before, Soundon said.
About 85 percent of respondents said they do not mind product placement advertising, it added.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS