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New data from YouGov's More than meets the ear – Great Britain podcast ads report 2026, reveals the scale and landscape of podcast listenership.
News leads Britian’s podcast landscape
When asked which types of podcasts they listen to and/or watch most often, Britons are most likely to mention news & current affairs content (42%). The genre also ranks first among both men and women, with almost half of men (46%) and more than a third of women (37%) saying they most often consume this type of content.
Comedy follows as the second most popular genre (36%), ahead of entertainment & pop culture podcasts (31%). Technology & science, lifestyle and education & self-improvement (22%) sit further behind, while true crime and sports (both 20%) narrowly outperform health & wellness (19%).
A closer look at podcast preferences by gender
The report also reveals notable differences in podcast preferences between men and women.
Men are nearly four times as likely as women to favour sports podcasts (31% vs. 8%), while technology & science content also attracts a significantly larger male audience (28% vs. 15%). Women, meanwhile, are nearly twice as likely as men to engage with health & wellness (26% vs. 12%) and true crime podcasts (27% vs. 14%) and are also more likely to consume lifestyle content (28% vs. 16%).
Not every genre, however, exhibits such pronounced differences. Comedy and entertainment & pop culture attract similar shares of men and women. While men (37%) are slightly more likely than women (35%) to consume comedy podcasts, women (32%) are similarly slightly more likely than men (30%) to engage with entertainment & pop culture content.
Business & finance remains a niche interest. Just 12% of Britons say they most often listen to and/or watch this type of content, with relatively little variation between men and women (15% vs. 10%).
Methodology:
The insights in this article have been sourced via YouGov Surveys: Serviced – providing rapid answers from the right audience. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The survey was conducted online from March 13, 2026, to April 1, 2026. The Great Britain sample size was n> 2000, and figures have been weighted to be representative of adults aged 18+ in Great Britain. Audiences are nationally representative of Great Britain. The analysis focuses on podcast consumers (audio or video), defined as Britons who listen to or watch podcast content for any amount of time. The findings presented in this article are based on responses to the question: “Which types of podcasts do you listen to and/or watch most often? Select all that apply.”