As Hispanic Heritage Month begins, new data from Edison Research shows Latino audio listeners are tuning in and asking for more. Cultural connection is driving demand for Spanish-language content, local stories, and hosts who reflect their lived experience.
Among all Latino monthly podcast listeners, 64% said they would listen more often if podcasts focused on topics that interested them. That figure climbs to 68% for those who had listened to a Spanish-language podcast in the past year. But the gap between general listeners and Spanish-language listeners grows sharper when it comes to cultural representation.
More than half of Spanish-language podcast listeners said they wanted more stories from Latinos (55%), more stories from their country of origin (52%), and more Latino hosts (52%). In each case, these numbers outpace the broader Latino podcast audience by 10 percentage points or more.
Demand for Spanish-language content is also clear. A majority of Spanish podcast listeners (52%) said they wanted more shows available in Spanish, compared to 38% of Latino listeners overall. Nearly half (46%) also said that more podcasts translated into Spanish could increase their listening time.
This builds on Crowd React Media’s findings that podcast listening reaches 43% among Spanish-speaking adults 18–34 and 30% across ages 18–64, with comedy, news, and cultural commentary among the top genres.
Bilingual respondents are more likely to listen than Spanish-dominant audiences, signaling a crossover effect as listeners move between platforms and languages. Importantly, the study found podcast use is additive, not a replacement for radio: 58% of weekly podcast listeners also report weekly radio listening, especially when stations provide local content and cultural connection.
Edison has been studying Latino podcast audiences since 2020, with the report sponsored by LWC Studios, Latino Media Network, Libsyn, SiriusXM Podcast Network, and Uforia Podcasts. The group stated its plans to expand research efforts aimed at empowering Latino and Hispanic creators in Q4.