• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 14, 2005

A national phone survey of adults over the age of 18 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, found that more than 22 million American adults own iPods or MP3 players. 29% of them have downloaded podcasts from the Web so that they could listen to audio files at a time of their choosing.

"Podcasting" emerged in 2004, as people combined the words "iPod" and "broadcasting." Podcast listeners typically download audio files from the Web onto a computer, transfer the files to an iPod, and listen at their leisure.

Of the 22 million adults who own iPods:

•      13% of men have the players, compared to 9% of women.
•      16% of African-Americans and English-speaking Latinos own iPods/MP3 players, compared to 9% of non-Latino whites.
•      19% of those ages 18-28 have iPods/MP3 players.
•     14% of those ages 29-40 have them
•      11% of younger Baby Boomers (ages 41-50) have them
•      6% of older Baby Boomers (ages 51-59) have them
•      6% of those 60-69 have them
•      1% of those 70 and older have them

iPods/MP3 players are for the upscale. Owners include:

•      18% of those who live in households earning more than $75,000
•      13% of those living in households earning $50,000 to $75,000
•      9% of those living in households earning $30,000-$50,000
•      7% of those living in households earning less than $30,000

Those who use the internet are four times as likely as non-internet users to have iPods/MP3 players

•      14% of internet users have iPods/MP3 players, compared to 3% of non-internet users.  
•      There is no notable gap between those who have broadband access and dial-up users when it comes to podcasting.