British advertisers who invest in podcasts may see potential growth, according to a recent study “Podcasting and Radio Listening via Internet Survey” released by the Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) UK, eMarketer reported.

More than one-half of responding British podcast downloaders said they were at least somewhat interested in downloading free podcasts which include advertising, while only 31 percent said they were interested in paying for ad-free podcasts.

The study showed an average podcast user subscribed to 3.6 podcasts and spent about one hour per week on it.

More than 40 percent of British online users between 16 and 54 have ever downloaded podcasts, versus only 29.5 percent in the United States, according to the “Power to the People: Social Media Tracker” report published by Universal McCann in April, eMarketer reported.

However, regular podcast downloaders are rare in the United Kingdom, according to a study conducted in January by Entertainment Media Research. Only 8 percent of respondents were regular podcast listeners, while just 2 percent paid for podcasts.

Podcast ad skeptics said that not only are regular podcast listeners rare, but podcasting itself is a niche medium - most of the podcasts only reach less than 100,000 listeners.

However, supporters would argue that its niche targeting and the podcast ad networks have the potential to reach similar listeners across different programs, eMarketer reported.