Don't fall into the same trap as the other dude. Those statements are patently WRONG. "Tiny number of people" is millions and millions. "<5%" is the definition of a bullshit statistic that is: a) a guess, b) very wrong with just a google search, and c) means nothing as it can't be proven.
Ironic. I guess you want me to take your word for it.
Unfortunately for you, your mockery doesn't hold up to any kind of scrutiny. Libsyn, a podcast distributor which I associate with more nerdy podcasts and competent users compared to e.g. iHeart, released user-agent stats across their entire field quite recently, back in 2021: https://thefeed.libsyn.com/193-alexa-play-the-podcast
Mobile apps not named Spotify, Stitcher, or Apple claimed a total download count of 12.6%. That 12.6% is largely composed of:
* 2.3% Google Podcasts
* 1.8% Overcast
* 1.3% Podcast Addict
* 1.2% Castbox
* 1.0% PocketCast
To the best of my knowledge, all of the above are centralized and normally fetch the RSS feed on a server instead of the app functioning as the user agent.
And so we can infer that at maximum, mobile downloads originating directly from RSS-fetching user agents represent 5% of the market for Libsyn. Desktop as a whole represented <15% of all downloads, and a huge chunk of that is going to be (once again) Apple Podcasts.
Furthermore, there are a ton of extremely popular "podcasts" (though they barely deserve the name) that are entirely centralized, being available only on one platform. This is a large portion of the market which the above figures don't reflect at all.
And so, on the basis of the evidence that is actually available, I pronounce RSS dead.
