Audio series platform Pocket FM announced its 2024 app consumption insights through Pocket FM Playback 2024, offering an in-depth look at how the world embraced storytelling and immersive audio experiences over the year.
Globally, listeners streamed over 100 billion minutes and completed more than 45 million transactions. The listener demographic comprised 54 percent Gen Z, 37 percent Millennials, and five percent Gen X. The platform’s gender distribution showcased 53 percent male and 47 percent female listeners.
Pocket FM’s AI-powered innovation fueled this growth. AI-generated audio series expanded the content library by 36X, while human-narrated series improved by 2X. This led to massive financial success, with over seven audio series surpassing $10 million in revenue – a 600 percent increase from 2023 – and 35 audio series achieving million-dollar status, three times more than the previous year, stated the report.
Romance and drama reigned supreme in both India and the US, followed closely by fantasy and sci-fi and horror and thriller. These genres drove hours of engagement, further highlighted the report.
Over 200,000 listeners spent more than three hours every day on the platform throughout the year, and more than 10,000 listeners listened over 3,000 hours – roughly 8 hours daily – a third of the day.
Listening patterns revealed a shift in consumer behavior, with morning hours (5-8 AM) and commute hours (8-11 AM) accounting for nearly 30 percent of daily consumption. Notably, leisure hours (8-11 PM) saw almost eight percent consumption as listeners likely to have opted for audio series over traditional TV series. Late-night hours (11 PM-5 AM) accounted for a striking 22.9 percent of total listening.
India stood out as a key market, with millions of listeners tuning in from its cities. The top 10 cities included Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai, Jaipur, and Lucknow. Popular genres were romance and drama, fantasy and sci-fi, and horror and thriller, revealed the report.
Top-performing audio series in India:
● Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh: Played over 100 million times
● Secret Ameerzaada: Played over 85 million times
● Insta Millionaire: Played over 60 million times
● Insta Empire: Played over 50 million times
● Super Yoddha: Played over 42 million times
“In 2024, we didn’t just grow; we redefined the very nature of entertainment by establishing audio series as a mainstream entertainment. Audio series, as a category, is no longer a niche—they are the next evolution of global entertainment. This year’s achievements are a testament to the immense potential of this category and our commitment to leading its growth” said Rohan Nayak, CEO and Co-founder of Pocket FM.
He added, “At Pocket FM, we have combined the power of human creativity with AI innovation to build a scalable, sustainable content ecosystem that transcends cultural boundaries and reimagines the way audiences consume stories.”
Read More: Pocket FM’s audio shows exceed Rs 100 crore in audience collections