(via eMarketer)

Over one-third of adults have listened to a podcast in the last month, according to the latest data from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Across 23 key markets in 2018, podcast penetration was 33.5%. This was particularly strong in Asia Pacific (42.0%), while North America registered at 30.5%.

News and politics proved the most popular genre, with 14.2% of respondents. This is followed closely behind by specialist podcasts, covering topics like business and technology, and the lifestyle genre, which includes topics like food and art. The fifth most popular genre was sports.

eMarketer forecasts that by 2022, 83.8 million people in the U.S. will listen to at least one podcast per month, up from 73.0 million people in 2018.

This creates an opportunity for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business (B2B) advertisers. For example, NPR — the most popular podcast publisher in the U.S., according to Podtrac — says B2B brands are one of its biggest advertiser categories.

“Many of our current direct-response advertisers are B2B brands like Squarespace or ZipRecruiter and other young companies looking to establish themselves directly with consumers,” said Gina Garrubbo, president and CEO of National Public Media.

Tom Schuman is the senior vice president of communications & operations for the Indiana Chamber. He is also the editor of the Chamber’s award-winning BizVoice magazine and has been with the organization for 20 years.