Independent Media Ride the Wave of Online Broadcasting

Podcasts have boomed ever since the COVID-19 pandemic overturned daily lives across the world, with people favouring the modern-day equivalent of the radio over an umpteenth video call. Several new and worthwhile podcasts concerning Central and Eastern Europe emerged over the last couple of years (often but not always from the region) providing insight, analysis and a (sometimes) lighter take on history and culture.

Nearly a hundred years after radio’s golden age, the medium returns in a more opulent version, with an infinite variety of on-demand shows that could be accessed from anywhere. The golden age of podcasts is undoubtedly a global phenomenon and has not circumvented Central and Eastern Europe.

In Slovakia, 43 per cent reported having listened to podcasts in the preceding month, 38 per cent in Poland, 37 per cent in Slovakia and 32 per cent in Hungary.

Numbers from the most recent year are not available for comparison; however, given the pandemic and the pervasive rise of podcasts, we can be sure that the numbers of Central Europeans tuning in to podcasts have only risen.