Audio entertainment gains ground as daily listening surges: Survey

Audio series are emerging as a mainstream entertainment format in India, with Pocket FM’s Entertainment Insights ’25 survey indicating strong adoption among young audiences. The study, based on responses from over 20,500 digital entertainment consumers, found that 49% listen to more than 10 episodes a day, while half spend over 90 minutes daily on audio content.

The report highlights that audio integrates smoothly into everyday routines, with 60% of respondents tuning in during leisure hours, 48% during commutes, and 32% while working. Genres such as drama, romance, fantasy and horror are the most popular, with 86% of listeners preferring episodic audio dramas to music, podcasts or audiobooks.

Language trends also point to wider access. Hindi accounts for 53% of listeners, but regional languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam are expanding reach. Payment preferences reflect India’s digital habits, with three in four respondents opting for micro-payments over monthly subscriptions.


The survey notes a growing openness to technology in entertainment. Over 80% of listeners said they are comfortable with AI-generated storytelling if the content connects emotionally.

“India has always been a storytelling nation for long, from epics to Bollywood blockbusters. But what we are seeing now is a generational pivot. People aren’t switching off screens because they dislike video; they are choosing audio series because it gives them something video cannot — intimacy, imagination, and freedom from the mundane,” said Rohan Nayak, co-founder & CEO, Pocket Entertainment. “The numbers are telling us something very powerful, and I strongly believe that the future of pop culture will not be defined by what we see, but equally by what we hear.”

Pocket FM, which has over 200 million global listeners and a catalogue of more than 75,000 audio series, said it sees audio storytelling as a long-term growth driver in India’s entertainment sector. Its parent company, Pocket Entertainment, is also expanding into literature and visual formats.

The survey was conducted online between June 5 and July 20, 2025, with 84% of respondents aged 18–35.