Nielsen//NetRatings announced that 6.6% of the US adult online population, or 9.2 mln Web users, have recently downloaded an audio podcast; 4.0%, or 5.6 mln Web users, have recently downloaded a video podcast. These figures put the podcasting population on a par with those who publish blogs, 4.8%, and online daters, 3.9%. However, podcasting is not yet nearly as popular as viewing and paying bills online, 51.6%, or online job hunting, 24.6%.
As is often typical with new technologies, young people are more likely than their older counterparts to engage in audio or video podcasting. Web users between the ages 18 and 24 are nearly twice as likely as the average Web user to download audio podcasts, followed by users in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups, who were also more likely than the average Web user to do audio podcasting. Video podcasters trended a little older, with 25-34 year olds indexing the highest. Web users above the age of 45 were less likely than average to engage in podcasting of either sort.