Almost two million Dutch people listen to podcasts daily
New audio figures show a stable reach, while video and social media become more important for discovery.
Almost two million Dutch people listen to podcasts or other forms of deferred listening every day. At the same time, NMO’s new Audiomonitor shows that podcasts account for only a small share of total listening time.
According to the Audiomonitor 2026, the category of deferred listening and podcasts reaches around 5 per cent of Dutch people aged 13 and over on an average day. In the measurement itself, that amounts to more than 767,000 people. According to the sector report, the broader figure of almost two million refers to daily podcast listeners.
The figures are therefore not directly comparable. In the Audiomonitor, NMO counts podcasts together with catch-up listening to radio programmes. Other market measurements use downloads, users or listening time. These units describe different parts of the same landscape and must not be presented as the same number of people.
The number of people who listen weekly is stable, according to the report. Seven per cent listen almost daily, while a further 13 per cent listen once or a few times a week. This means that around one in five Dutch people listen to podcasts at least weekly.
Live radio and music services remain dominant in total audio time. Live radio accounts for 66 per cent of measured listening time, and music services for 25 per cent. Podcasts and deferred listening together account for 3 per cent.
The way people find podcasts is changing, however. The smartphone is the most important device. Music services such as Spotify are used most often, followed by YouTube. Clips on social media also play a role: many people who see such a clip subsequently listen to the full podcast occasionally or more often.
For publishers, broadcasters and advertisers, this means that reach no longer comes solely from audio platforms. Video clips can attract new listeners, but the figures say little about subscriptions, revenue per creator or the quality of listening. The market is therefore growing mainly through the development of formats and distribution, not automatically through more total listening time.
Fact-check Approved with corrections · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The source supports the growing and stable role of podcasts, but uses multiple units of measurement. The text makes that distinction explicit and presents the figure of 767,000 as an NMO measurement, not as a universal market total.
- confirmed The Audiomonitor measures more than 767,000 daily listeners in the category of podcasts and deferred listening — This is stated in the discussion of the NMO Audiomonitor. source
- confirmed Live radio accounts for 66 per cent of total listening time — The Audiomonitor reports this share. source
- confirmed Podcasts and deferred listening together account for 3 per cent of listening time — This percentage appears in the NMO summary. source
1 correction(s) applied
- Was: Almost two million Dutch people listen to podcasts daily.Now: The Audiomonitor reaches more than 767,000 people in the category of podcasts and deferred listening on an average day; the sector also uses a broader figure of almost two million daily podcast listeners. (The sources use different definitions and units of measurement.)
Editor's note
The source measurements use different units. Daily users, downloads and listening time have therefore not been combined into one exact market figure.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- NU.nl — „podcasts nmo”
- De Telegraaf — „podcasts nmo”
- AD — „podcasts nmo”