Ads in the top 10 U.S. podcasts deliver 33% reach of weekly U.S. listeners (Edison Research)

In a startling demonstration of how long the “long tail” of media can be, Edison Research has posted an article illustrating that the top 10 podcasts reach a third of weekly U.S. weekly listeners. In a field of nearly three million podcasts, this data point is a stark reminder of how concentrated is media success and reach.

Here is the graphic:

Edison Director of Research Gabriel Soto, who wrote the article, notes the next step: “Expand the buy to the top 25 shows, and one is pushing close to half [of U.S. podcast weekly listeners].” As seen above, that is 44%.

If this concentration of listeners into the most expensive ad-buying podcasts is daunting, Soto offers reassurance and advice about buying into the longest part of the tail:

“This doesn’t necessarily mean advertisers should ignore any podcast that falls below the top 1000. The 18% of the audience that is not reachable by the top 1,000 podcasts amounts to millions of people accessible only by tapping into the shows beyond the top 1,000. Not to mention, these shows with smaller audiences are very useful in targeting specific types of listeners that align with specific types of brands. “

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