Westwood One has released its fifth annual podcast advertising study, in collaboration with Advertiser Perceptions. This report is synced with the IAB Podcast Upfront, also in its fifth year. (See RAIN details HERE.) The info is now published on the Westwood One blog, authored by Pierre Bouvard.
Some of the measurements in this report were spilled earlier this week in a different blog post. The headline of today’s release is original research commissioned from Advertiser Perceptions, and is this: Since 2015, podcast advertising consideration has grown 2.5X and spend intention has grown nearly 4X. That span represents the five years of IAB Podcast Upfronts. Here’s the detail: “Podcast advertising consideration has soared from 18% in 2015 to 46% this year. Podcast advertising intention has nearly quadrupled from 10% in 2015 to 37% in 2020.”
Other information comes from Edison Research and Magellan AI. The Magellan numbers were covered on Monday. Edison’t contribution compares time spent with different audio categories, comparing Q2 2016 with Q2 2020:
Here are the key takeaways for this year’s report:
- Since 2015, podcast advertising consideration among brands and agencies has grown 2.5X and spend intention has grown nearly 4X, according to Advertiser Perceptions.
- Two-thirds of buy-side decision makers are discussing podcast advertising and one-third are actively spending.
- Podcast advertising is pandemic proof: After a brief April dip, ad volumes and advertisers have surged back and now exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to Magellan AI.
- Brand advertising shows strong growth in podcasts: Magellan AI finds major brand advertisers are tripling down on their ad commitments.
- Podcasting’s audience share of ad-supported audio has nearly tripled since 2016, according to Edison’s “Share of Ear.”
Pierre Bouvard’s conclusion: “This is podcasting’s finest hour.”
