What do Iranian podcasters make, and what do listeners want?

Explaining the gap between supply and demand in the Persian Castbox ecosystem

In the noise of the metro, while walking in the street, while driving, or even when we are at home, just by connecting to the internet we can listen to a story, a book, a one-on-one conversation, or a piece of educational content. The podcast is a medium that, after the era of television’s dominance and visual media, few expected would once again revive the heritage of oral communication in the digital age; a heritage that can be seen as a revival of radio’s golden age. Today, depending on the geographic and political conditions of each country or region, podcasts have different form and content, and these differences are rooted in cultural infrastructure, the political and economic situation of society, and also its ideas and ideals. For this reason, understanding the tastes of Persian podcast audiences can yield valuable signs for understanding the intellectual state of society.

Although Persian podcasting began on Castbox in 2005, its main wave of growth and popularity took shape from 2019 and coinciding with the spread of coronavirus; a time when the podcast became one of the ways to fill the communication vacuum of the pandemic and lockdown. The largest numbers of Persian channels on Castbox were created in 2021 with 3,440 channels and 2023 with 4,158 channels. The way podcasts are consumed differs from other internet platforms and services; this difference is seen both in the amount of audio content consumed relative to video, and in the diversity of tastes and popular topics of each medium. For example, the largest share of listeners (33 percent) and followers (25 percent) of Persian Castbox channels belongs to the topic of books, philosophy, history, biography, and nonfiction narratives. After that, “personal development education” is in second place with 22 percent of views and 21 percent of followers, and health and psychology topics have also attracted 14 percent of views and 12 percent of followers. Novel and fiction narrative channels have also accounted for 19 percent of followers and 11 percent of listeners.

Beyond these descriptive statistics, a noteworthy point in the data is the existence of a significant gap between the share of channels and the number of their audiences and followers; this discrepancy can be observed mainly in two categories of topics:

1- Topics in which the content produced and its producers are less than the views and followers: The clearest of them is the topic “books (philosophy, history, and biography) and nonfiction narratives,” in which the share of producer channels (8 percent) and related episodes (9 percent) is far smaller than the share of their audiences; such that one-third of all views (33 percent) and one-quarter of followers are interested in this area. This gap indicates a difference in the consumption pattern of podcast audiences compared with visual media, and it also appears that the growing interest in historical books and biographies is rooted in part in attention to society’s historical past. At the same time, this situation shows that these areas still have high capacity to attract new audiences, and the likelihood of success for new podcasts in this field is greater than for topics such as science, technology, politics, economics, or sociology. The second category is health and psychology, which, although it accounts for only 7 percent of channels and episodes, has 14 percent of all listeners and 12 percent of followers; this too indicates this area’s high capacity for growth and attracting new audiences. Finally, the “guest-centered conversation” genre, despite accounting for only half a percent of content produced and one percent of channels, has attracted two percent of the audience; this fourfold ratio indicates a need to produce more content in this area and a high chance of success, although its overall share of the podcast market has remained limited.

2- Content produced and its producers are more than views and followers: On the other side, there are topics that account for a high share of channels and episodes produced, but compared with this high production they have few audiences. For example, areas such as economics, politics, and sociology, despite 14 percent of channels and 13 percent of Persian Castbox episodes being devoted to them, have attracted only three percent of views and four percent of followers; this situation shows that despite content producers’ attention to these areas, they have not had much success in attracting audiences, and the likelihood of success for new channels in this field is low. A similar situation is also observed in religion; such that 9 percent of all episodes and 4 percent of channels are devoted to this topic, but the share of followers and views in this area is approximately one percent. These figures indicate high activity by producers in religion, but little audience reception of this content. In art, music, and poetry, although the number of channels is approximately equal to the number of followers and views, the number of episodes produced is significantly higher, which indicates high producer activity in this area and, at the same time, a limit on attracting audiences commensurate with the volume of production. In science and technology, too, the number of channels is high, but a kind of alignment is observed between the number of episodes produced and the share of views and followers, which can be a sign of audience saturation in this area. Other areas such as family and children, entertainment, and cinema also face a similar situation, and the amount of content production and the number of channels exceed views and followers. Finally, topics such as education and personal development, sports, travel and migration, and even novels and fiction narratives have a relative balance and equilibrium in all four of the aforementioned indicators (that is, the number of channels, episodes, followers, and views).

Overall, Persian podcasting has had significant similarities with visual platforms and social networks, but it also has its own particular distinctions, and audience taste also differs from other platforms. This report helps cultural policymakers, in their analysis and decision-making, be aware of the importance of the platform for understanding audiences and their tastes, and make their decisions with these considerations in mind.