Investigation of Podcast and Audio Streaming Usage Patterns Among University Students in Sokoto State, North West Nigeria

Audio streaming and podcast consumption represent emerging digital media behaviours among Nigerian university students, and understanding usage patterns and motivations in North West contexts where audio content in indigenous languages is limited provides valuable insights for content developers and educators. This study investigates podcast and audio streaming usage patterns among university students at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, North West Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 240 students across five faculties, selected through stratified random sampling. Questionnaire items assessed platform usage (Spotify, YouTube audio, Audiomack, local radio streaming), content category preferences, usage frequency, language of content preferred, academic versus entertainment purpose, and accessibility barriers. Descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, and chi-square tests were computed in SPSS. Literature from Nigerian higher education digital media contexts identifies mobile data cost as the dominant barrier to sustained streaming use, with academic podcasts underutilised relative to entertainment content despite student interest. The Uses and Gratifications Theory and the Media Richness Theory provide the analytical framework. Findings indicate that 68 percent of students used audio streaming at least three times per week, with music dominating over educational content. Language preference analysis reveals that 71 percent of respondents prefer English-language podcast content, while demand for Hausa-language academic podcasts was expressed by 54 percent of respondents. Recommendations address university-produced academic podcast content in Hausa and institutional streaming data allowance schemes. Keywords: podcast usage, audio streaming, university students, Sokoto State, North West Nigeria.