The Final Word on sports podcasts: Audience perceptions of media engagement and news consumption

Abstract

Sports podcasting has spread rapidly over the past decade and reflects how sports media have been quick to embrace new technologies. Despite being a relatively recent medium, podcasts have expanded the sports field with their format and content. The rise in podcast shows and episodes has been noticeable, but less is known, particularly in an academic context, about the audience's desire for sports news and information. Utilising the audience of The Final Word, a global podcast focusing on cricket, this study will examine perceptions of media engagement and news consumption through a survey of 333 listeners. The Final Word is a popular podcast that has gained critical acclaim for its content and format, and is hosted by two cricket writers, who are based in Australia and the United Kingdom. The findings provide important global insights and descriptive results of the habits and perceptions of listeners in relation to media engagement and news consumption of a journalistic podcast

The production and consumption of news podcasts

“…The first article in this issue – by Peter English, Jacqueline Burgess and Christian Jones – focuses on sports news and information. Based on a survey of 333 listeners of The Final Word Cricket Podcast , English et al (2022) investigated perceptions of engagement with the podcast medium as well as news consumption. Giving both audiences and producers greater opportunities for engagement, podcasting has become part of broader changes in the evolving digital media landscape (English et al, 2022).…”

“…Based on a survey of 333 listeners of The Final Word Cricket Podcast , English et al (2022) investigated perceptions of engagement with the podcast medium as well as news consumption. Giving both audiences and producers greater opportunities for engagement, podcasting has become part of broader changes in the evolving digital media landscape (English et al, 2022). However, the discussion of how podcast audiences engage with media and consume news has not received much attention from prior literature on news engagement (Park et al, 2021; Sang et al, 2020b).…”

“…However, the discussion of how podcast audiences engage with media and consume news has not received much attention from prior literature on news engagement (Park et al, 2021; Sang et al, 2020b). Focusing on a global sports podcast, English et al’s (2022) study fills a gap in the literature. English et al (2022) found that the audiences of The Final Word Cricket Podcast actively engaged with media content about cricket.…”

“…Focusing on a global sports podcast, English et al’s (2022) study fills a gap in the literature. English et al (2022) found that the audiences of The Final Word Cricket Podcast actively engaged with media content about cricket. Forming a community, almost three quarters of the survey respondents engaged with the hosts on social media and half of the respondents contributed to the podcast financially.…”