The latest statistics from Rajar (Radio Joint Audience Research) reveal that 14.5m people claim to have listened to Internet radio services, up from 12m in Nov'07. In any given week, 9.4m people will listen to Internet radio, which is up from 8.1m in Nov'07.

Meanwhile, 6m people have downloaded a Podcast (up from 4.3m), and 3.7m say they listen to a Podcast each week (up from 1.87m). The average Podcast user subscribes to 3.6 Podcasts and spends just over an hour per week listening to them. Comedy and music continue to be the two favourite genres. Apple's iTunes remains the Podcast software of choice, used by almost three quarters of users.

Podcasting appears to have a marginally positive effect on live radio listening – almost 15% say they now listen to more live radio since they began downloading Podcasts; while 10% stated they listen to less, and 39% say they are now listening to radio programmes they did not listen to previously.

53% of respondents said they would be interested in downloading Podcasts containing advertising if they were free, while only 31% responded positively to the idea of Podcasts without adverts that had to be paid for.