You read that right. Let's review the stats:
Active podcasts on Apple Podcasts:
June 2021: 755,715 (15 months into the pandemic)
December 2021: 548,447
January 2023: 449,041
January 2024: 455,938 (up 1.5% year over year; still down 40% from June 2021)
A few thoughts on these statistics:
--Podcast listenership, whether measured by daily or weekly listeners, rose steadily during this period. What that means is that in 2024, compared to 2021, more podcast listeners have fewer active podcasts to choose from than was the case three years ago.
--Consequently, when someone says there are too many podcasts around, they don't have a clue as to what they're talking about.
--Starting a podcast is like buying a puppy: it's fun and makes you feel good. It's great to receive all the kudos and praise when you announce your new show. It's another thing altogether to keep it going, particularly when you're doing it all yourself.
--Who reaps the benefits of these stats? It's those who keep going. It's true not just for podcasts, but an email or LinkedIn newsletter, a video series, or a book: you will stand out if you just keep at it.
--Your competitors, if you want to look at it that way (I don't), are not those who start something. Your competitors as an active podcaster, newsletter writer, author, etc. are those who are actually doing the thing. In the world of podcasts, for example, your "competition" is not the 4.3 million podcasts registered worldwide, but the 455,000 podcasts that are active.
--It's similar to when I climbed Mt. Rainier years ago: the herd going up that mountain culled itself naturally as the going got tough and the air got thinner. I was the last guy in my party to drag my slow keister to the top, but it didn't matter. I was on top, along with just a handful of those who started the morning before.