If you search for podcast listeners by city India, you will find a lot of confident headlines and very little actual city data. We get this question from Jaipur creators and local brands almost every week: which city listens the most, and is ours one of them? We would rather give you an honest answer than a made-up ranking. So here is what is known, what is dated, and what nobody has published yet.
Key takeaways
- No source we found ranks Indian cities by podcast listening. Any list that does should be treated with suspicion.
- The Podcast Pulse survey (April to May 2024) covered 10 cities, Jaipur included, but its headline findings are national.
- A forecast roundup splits podcast listening roughly 45% metros, 35% tier-2 cities and 20% tier-3 and rural. It is a forecast, not a measurement.
- Regional-language and niche content is described as a growth driver, which is good news for Hindi-first Jaipur creators.
- Your own Spotify and YouTube city analytics will tell you more than any survey.
Podcast listeners by city India: what the data actually says
There is no public, city-by-city ranking of podcast listeners in India. The surveys that exist cover national behaviour, and the platforms that hold real plays-by-city data (Spotify, YouTube, Apple) do not publish it. So “which city listens most” cannot be answered honestly with a single name.
What we can do is separate three kinds of information, because most articles blur them together:
- Survey samples. A research firm asks people in selected cities about their habits. Useful, but the sample is not a ranking.
- Forecasts. Analysts estimate how listening will split between metros and smaller cities. These are projections, often repeated second-hand.
- Platform analytics. Real plays and watch time by city. Only the creator sees this for their own show.
Keep these three apart and the noise drops quickly. For a wider view of how India is listening and watching, our podcast trends India 2026 post covers the national picture.
What did the Podcast Pulse survey cover, and where is Jaipur in it?
The Podcast Pulse, by Ideabrew Studios with UNPAC Research, engaged 2,170 people across 10 cities in April to May 2024. Those cities were Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore, Patna and Jaipur. It also included detailed interviews with 1,800 active listeners. Podnews published the press release.
Here is the part many summaries skip: Jaipur being in the sample does not mean Jaipur was ranked. The 10 cities were the places researchers spoke to. The published findings are national, and the coverage we found gives no Jaipur-specific percentage.
| Podcast Pulse finding (2024, dated) | Figure | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Respondents initially unaware of podcasts | About 82% | National |
| Discovered podcasts less than a year ago | 78% | National |
| Indians described as currently engaged | 12% | National |
These numbers come from Kashmir Observer’s coverage of the survey. They are from 2024, so treat them as a snapshot of a young market, not today’s exact position. The practical reading is simple: most listeners are new, and a new audience is still choosing its habits and its favourite shows.
This is a podcast awareness survey for India, not a city league table. The report also looks at weekday and weekend patterns, preferred episode length and regional-language content, and it calls regional podcasts a driving force. For a Jaipur creator, that last point matters more than any ranking.
Metro vs tier 2 podcast audience India: the 45/35/20 forecast
A forecast roundup published around February 2025 splits India’s podcast audience roughly as metros 45%, tier-2 cities 35% and tier-3 and rural 20%. It attributes this to a “GroupM Forecast”. We could not find the original GroupM document, so read it as an expectation, not a measured result.
| City tier (forecast, dated early 2025) | Expected share of audience |
|---|---|
| Metro cities | 45% |
| Tier-2 cities | 35% |
| Tier-3 and rural | 20% |
Source: Radio and Music’s 2025 podcast forecast roundup. The same piece expects podcasting to reach newer audiences in tier-2 and tier-3 cities as smartphones spread and 5G rolls out.
So what does this metro vs tier 2 podcast audience India split tell a Jaipur creator? One thing: even in a forecast that favours metros, more than a third of listening is expected outside them. That is a large pool of potential listeners. If you want the tier-2 story in more depth, we wrote it up in podcast growth in tier 2 cities India.
One more caution. India is still early. Deloitte put podcast adoption at 12%, against 47% monthly usage in the US, as reported by NewKerala. A low base means big percentage growth is easy to promise, so check every claim for its date and source.
Is there real podcast listenership data for Jaipur?
No public source gives podcast listenership data for Jaipur. We found no Jaipur-specific listener percentage, no city ranking and no count of local shows. So the honest answer to “are podcasts popular in Jaipur?” is that nobody has published the numbers yet. Directories give hints, but only hints.
Take Feedspot’s page titled “6 Best Jaipur Podcasts”. It is partly topic-tagged: the visible entries include a Jaipur Literature Festival series and a Portuguese audiobook reading of a book set in Jaipur. Six is not the real number of local creators.
Feedspot’s other lists show Jaipur-based hosts under different tags. There is a business podcast host, a Hindi horror show and Learn Hindi On The Go, which the directory estimates at 10,000 to 50,000 monthly listeners (an estimate, seen October 2026). The best Jaipur podcasts are scattered across categories, and nobody has counted them properly.
How do you read your own city analytics?
You read city analytics inside your own Spotify for Creators, YouTube Studio or Apple Podcasts Connect dashboard. Each shows where your plays or views come from. This is the only real podcast listenership by city you will ever get, because the platforms share it with the creator and nobody else.
Here is the routine we suggest after your first few episodes:
- Open the audience or geography tab and note your top five cities by plays or watch time.
- Compare Jaipur against other Rajasthan cities and the metros, using watch time, not just views.
- Check which episodes pull the most viewers from outside Jaipur. That tells you whether your topic travels.
- Look at average view duration by episode length. Short and long cuts often behave differently.
- Repeat monthly and write the numbers down. Trends matter more than one week’s spike.
Treat small numbers carefully. With a few hundred plays, one forwarded WhatsApp link can move a city’s share a lot.
What does the Rajasthan podcast audience look like for creators?
There is no published Rajasthan podcast audience study either, so we can only point to national signals. Regional-language content keeps coming up as a growth driver, and Hindi is a natural language choice for many Rajasthan creators. Treat everything below as direction, not proof.
- Regional niches. Deloitte’s TMT Predictions 2026, as reported by Buzz in Content, expected regional-language creators with a strong niche in business, education, health, finance and lifestyle to grow faster than short-form social creators.
- Hindi. A vendor market report puts Hindi at about 38% of Indian podcasting, per The Report Cubes. Vendor figures vary a lot, so use it as a rough pointer for Hindi podcast listeners in India.
- Video. Acast’s 2026 Podcast Pulse, a global survey of 4,300 people in 13 markets, found 88% consume both audio and video podcasts, up from 78% in 2025. It is not an India study, but it supports a video-first approach, which is useful for anyone tracking video podcast growth in India.
Note that Acast’s Podcast Pulse is a different report from the Indian Podcast Pulse we covered above. Do not mix the two.
At Oskillo: how we help Jaipur creators test a show
At Oskillo Studio in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur, we help you test a show cheaply before you commit to a full season. Since city data does not exist until you publish, the fastest way to learn is to record a few episodes, release them and read your own analytics.
Our process has four steps: concept and strategy, pre-production (question flow, set, mic, light and camera checks), production in 4K multicam, and post-production with edit, colour, audio mastering, thumbnails, captions and reels. The founders are present at every shoot, and beginners get guidance throughout.
| What you need | Oskillo option | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Recording with 2 Sony 4K cameras, Shure mic, recorder, lights and technician | Economy Class Advance | Rs 4,000 per hour |
| Full edit package for one episode | Complete Podcast Edit | Rs 10,000 |
| Short clip for Instagram or YouTube Shorts | Reel edit with cover | Rs 1,500 |
See the full podcast studio pricing in Jaipur or our studio rental page for sets and gear. Our own show, YTMahendra Podcast, hosted by Mahendra Kumar, is recorded here too.
Is a Jaipur podcast worth starting?
Yes, if you treat it as a test and not a bet on a ranking that does not exist. Podcasting in India is young, and regional-language, niche shows are described as a growth area. Whether it pays off depends on your niche and how consistently you publish.
Podcasters in India usually earn through sponsorships, client leads from the show, or by selling their own services, so a business owner or consultant often benefits sooner than a general entertainer. Start with three to five episodes, read your city analytics, then decide. Questions about booking? Check our FAQs or message us on WhatsApp.
Frequently asked questions
Which Indian city listens to podcasts the most?
No public source ranks Indian cities by podcast listening. The 2024 Podcast Pulse surveyed 10 cities, but published its main findings nationally. Real plays-by-city data sits inside Spotify, YouTube and Apple dashboards, which only each creator can see. Be careful with any article that names one top city.
Are podcasts popular in Jaipur?
Jaipur was one of the 10 cities in the 2024 Podcast Pulse sample, but we found no Jaipur-specific listening figure. What we can say is that local shows are still few, and Hindi and regional content is growing. Your own analytics will show how Jaipur responds to your show.
Do tier-2 cities listen to podcasts?
Yes, and the share is expected to grow. A forecast roundup from early 2025 puts tier-2 cities near 35% of India’s podcast audience, against about 45% for metros. It is a forecast with an unverified original source, so treat it as direction, not a measured number.
What is the Podcast Pulse survey in India?
It is a survey by Ideabrew Studios and UNPAC Research, run in April to May 2024. It engaged 2,170 people across 10 cities and interviewed 1,800 active listeners in detail. It is different from the global Acast Podcast Pulse, so do not mix the two.
How many Indians listen to podcasts?
Estimates differ a lot. The 2024 Podcast Pulse described only about 12% of Indians as currently engaged, and Deloitte put adoption at 12% against 47% monthly usage in the US. Market-research vendors give much higher listener counts that conflict with each other, so use them cautiously.
Which language is most popular for podcasts in India?
Hindi is widely described as the largest language, and one vendor report estimates its share at about 38%. That is a market-research estimate, not a census. The Podcast Pulse also calls regional-language podcasts a driving force, which is good news for Hindi-first creators.
Jaipur mein podcast shuru karna worth it hai?
Haan, agar aap ek clear niche aur Hindi-first approach rakhte ho. Jaipur mein local shows kam hain, to competition kam hai. Pehle 8 se 10 episodes record karke apni Spotify aur YouTube city analytics dekho, phir decide karo ki aage kitna invest karna hai.
Book your session at Oskillo Studio
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