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During a webinar to promote their Podcast Listener Buying Power Service, Nielsen executives reported that the smartphone is the reason podcast listening is growing 20% every year. The ratings firm also predicts that listening could double by 2023. 
What’s driving that growth? The smartphone, according to Nielsen’s Scarborough data. 
Nielsen says that its data shows that of those considered heavy podcast listeners, 45% of them are listening to podcasts every day.
The top categories being listened to are news, comedy and sports by men, and society/culture, comedy and health by women.
And while direct response advertising has pretty much supported podcasting over the past several years, more brands are entering the medium. The number one concern brands have about podcasting is measurement. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of trust in the downloads/listen technology.
Nielsen believes its new service helps fill in the gaps with downloads and listens. “Our data puts podcasting more into the mainstream and on par with other media.”