Podcasting, Digital Audio Storytelling, and Emerging Audience Markets in Nigeria

This study examines the growth of podcasting and digital audio storytelling in Nigeria, analysing the content landscape, production practices, audience characteristics, and monetisation challenges of this emerging media format. Nigerian podcasting has grown rapidly since 2019, with hundreds of shows covering politics, business, lifestyle, comedy, religion, and culture attracting audiences beyond traditional broadcast radio. Despite this growth, the sector has received limited academic attention. This study employs a mixed-method design combining a survey of 380 podcast listeners in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Enugu assessing consumption patterns, preference drivers, and platform use, with in-depth interviews with 22 Nigerian podcast producers covering content strategy, production resource access, audience development, and revenue generation. Content analysis of 15 leading Nigerian podcasts assesses genre, format, language, and production quality. Findings reveal that Nigerian podcast audiences skew strongly urban, educated, and young (18 to 35), with business, personal development, and comedy as the most popular genres. Spotify has overtaken traditional podcast apps as the primary discovery and consumption platform. Production quality varies enormously, from smartphone-recorded hobby projects to professionally produced branded content. Monetisation through sponsorships is available to a small minority of podcasters with audiences above 5,000 listeners per episode. Hausa and Yoruba language podcasts are emerging as significant growth categories underserved by current platforms. The study concludes that Nigerian podcasting represents a significant and underserved media market opportunity and recommends producer support through incubator programmes, training, and distribution partnerships with global platforms.

Keywords: podcasting, digital audio, Nigeria, audience, media entrepreneurship.