Hi, Reader.

Welcome to Podcasting in Professional Services. Each week, you'll get podcasting research, trends, and examples. This week, we're talking episode length. Let's dive in 👇

What is the ideal podcast episode length?

Recently, we released our 2026 State of Podcasting in Professional Services research study, which challenged some conventional wisdom. For example, many marketing 'experts' claim consumers today have increasingly shorter and shorter attention spans.

That may not be entirely true.

When we asked podcast listeners to share the typical episode length of their favorite business show, more than 70% said the run time on their favorite show was more than 40 minutes. Nearly 37% said their favorite show runs more than 60 minutes. 🤯

It's clear that podcast listeners are willing to consume long-form content. But why aren't more people tuning into shorter episodes?

Free Their Eyes, Extend Their Attention Span

In an earlier newsletter edition, I shared a research finding that active business podcast listeners were 3x more likely to listen to podcast episodes in the car vs at a computer.

The same study also found that, while not as extreme of a comparison, listeners were also much more likely to listen to podcasts while exercising or doing chores when compared to listening at a computer.

The combination of these suggests that these activities — commuting, exercising, doing chores — gives people a container in which to consume. So let's take a look at how long those activities take:

Given the average length of time to commute to work, mow the law, and to do a workout...combined with the average episode duration, it would appear that between 25-45 minutes is a sweet spot for business podcast episode length.

But What About Video?

This is a whole can of worms, so I'm going to be brief and blunt about this. Video is incredibly important for discovery, but its importance wanes as listeners start to like and trust you.

I always caution my clients; invest in video, but not at the expense of the audio experience. Forcing listeners to use their eyes as part of how they consume your show risks alienating your biggest fans.

Finding The Right Length For Your Show

Maybe your show is too long. Maybe it's not long enough. How do you find out?

The perfect podcast episode length depends on:

• Personality — Is the host more inquisitive and reserved or extroverted and filled with stories?
• Audience — How does your target audience consume your media? Where and when do they consume it?
• Subject — What is the nature of the subject matter? Are they nuanced conversations that require context or actionable tips listeners can put into practice right away?
• Structure — How are your episodes typically organized? Do you have set segments? Or are your episodes more free-flowing?

I recommend analyzing the problem from these four angles to find the right episode length for your show.

Need help? Reply to this email to get a conversation started.

How Breaking BizDev Adjusted Episode Length To Get 75% Consumption Rates

Mark Wainwright and I co-host the Breaking BizDev; the podcast that beats up, breaks down, and redefines 'business development' for experts and doer-sellers.

When we launched the show in Q4 2023, we wanted episodes to be ~30 minutes long in order to deliver substance to our listeners in the time it takes to walk the dog or commute to the office.

We regularly hit that goal for the first 50 episodes or so. But in Q4 2025, we noticed the run times of our episodes were creeping up to 40 minutes and beyond.

Longer Episodes Resulted in Lower Consumption Rates

In retrospect, we were trying to fit too much into each episode. We also loosened up on editing to make the show feel more 'natural' and conversational.

But the data suggested we veered too far astray from our original mission. When we looked at our episode analytics on Apple Podcasts Connect, we noticed our average consumption rates dropped from ~70% to ~50% on the longer episodes.

It could have been the subject matter. But it was likely that we were simply going too long on each episode.

The Fix? Heavier Editing + Tighter Outlines

Neither Mark nor I want to be in a position where we are stressing about having episode content to publish. So we like to keep 60 days worth of episode inventory in the queue. Once we made the decision to cut down on episode length, here is what we did:

1. A heavier hand editing out rabbit holes where we go too long on a subject or provide too many examples.
2. Editing out transitionary language "Next, we're going to talk about..."
3. Putting more intention to shorter, tighter episode outlines for future episodes.

The existing episode inventory still had some longer recordings, so there was more focus on the post-production side. At the same time, we tightened up episode outlines for future recordings.

Consumption Rates Rebounded

Since December 2025, episodes of Breaking BizDev have averaged ~30 minutes and consumption rates have ranged between 65-87% on Apple Podcasts (the show's leading channel) — about a 50% improvement over the lows of the longer episodes.

A few operational adjustments made a big impact on a leading indicator of audience engagement, and now we know what our listeners prefer.

In case you missed it...

• ​History of Podcasting: From '80s Radio Tech to Booming Industry​
• ​Podcasting at Conferences: Turning A Booth Into a Pop-Up Studio​
• ​How to Get Podcast Guests For Your Business Show​
• ​Audio vs Video Podcasts: Which Makes Sense for You?​

Take your show to the next level

Red Cedar Marketing help experts and professional services firms launch and grow podcasts that actually make a business impact. Here are a few ways we help clients:

• New show launch + pilot programs
• Podcast audit, benchmarking, and roadmapping
• Managed podcast growth + marketing
• Sponsorship development + monetization
• Video clip production & distribution
• Guest outreach and guest booking

Want to learn more?
Reply to this email to start a conversation.

Cheers,
- John