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Pocket fm insights ’25: 86 per cent of listeners prefer audio dramas over podcasts
MUMBAI: For millions of Indians, screens are out and sound is in. Pocket fm’s entertainment insights ’25 report reveals how audio series have emerged as the country’s most intimate form of entertainment, redefining binge culture.
Based on responses from 20,538 digital entertainment consumers, the survey reveals that audio dramas are now part of daily life, with 49 per cent listening to over 10 episodes a day, 50 per cent tuning in for more than 90 minutes (including 35 per cent who cross two hours), 60 per cent listening during leisure time, 48 per cent during commutes, and 86 per cent preferring episodic audio dramas over podcasts, audiobooks, or music.
At the center of this shift is young India (18–24 years), treating audio series as both escape and habit. Genres such as drama (40 per cent), romance (37 per cent), sci-fi/fantasy (37 per cent), and thriller/horror (34 per cent) dominate, with Hindi leading at 53 per cent while regional languages rapidly gain ground.
Monetisation patterns are equally unique: three in four prefer micro-payments over subscriptions, mirroring India’s wider digital payment culture.
And the future? Surprisingly open to tech. 80 per cent of listeners say they are comfortable with AI-generated storytelling, so long as the narrative connects emotionally.
“India has always been a storytelling nation, from epics to bollywood. What we are witnessing now is a generational pivot,” said Pocket entertainment, co-founder and ceo, Rohan Nayak. “People aren’t abandoning video; they’re choosing audio because it offers intimacy, imagination, and freedom. The future of pop culture will be defined as much by what we hear as by what we see.”
