Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.
Signal Hill Insights released its 2024 Benchmark Report, documenting and measuring the effectiveness of branded podcasts. The company has for years been a leader in testing audio effectiveness in audio marketing. This latest report quantifies and evangelizes the power of brand-created podcasts. Click for detailed coverage.
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Magellan AI’s accounting of podcast advertiser spending for May, for the top 15 spenders, shows the total spend down 14 percent from April. In a display of month-over-month consistency, 13 of the top 15 are repeats from the April reckoning. Click for RAIN’s graphic month-over-month comparison. Continue Reading
Podcast network Acast, and communications agency OMD, have partnered to conduct what they characterize as “a comprehensive new study” to quantify the effectiveness of podcast advertising. Double-digit percentage gains are the outcome for podcast advertising compared to what the report calls “average media.” Continue Reading
Leading podcast hosting company Libsyn is announcing an integration with YouTube’s recently announced podcast API (Application Programming Interface) features. The new product suite is designed to establish a well rounded podcast presence on YouTube, a vital audio distribution point. Continue Reading
WSAN (Women’s Sports Audio Network), a unit launched by iHeartMedia in April, is announcing an inaugural slate of original podcasts across a range of sports. It’s an ambitious and sprawling effort supported by inaugural partners on the production and sponsorship sides. Click for details. Continue Reading
“Recently, I’ve had several speaking engagements with media groups,” Steve Goldstein says in his latest guest column, “and there is a surefire way to get an instant gasp from the crowd – show them the median ages of the major media platforms.” The median age of TV viewing has risen from 18-49, to 65 and older. Some cable channels are younger, but Steve is aiming his point at podcasting, where the mean listenerage is 34. Podcasting is the new talk radio for the younger demo. (Commercial radio is median-58.) There is a Fountain of Youth story here for advertisers, is the point. “The plates are shifting” — and this is an important read. Continue Reading
The average cost per thousand (CPM) for podcast advertising in April was nearly identical to March , dipping only five cents, or two-tenths of one percent. But there is also something remarkable in this month’s report: Small campaigns reach a new low in average cost. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In this latest guest column from podcast consultant and public speaker Steve Goldstein, Steve grapples with the problem of too much content competing for too few eyeballs and ears. The issue was highlighted in a recent investor call by Disney CEO Bob Iger, but is what Steve calls “a really huge issue in today’s media landscape.” In podcasting, only eight percent of shows have produced a new episode in the last 30 days. Small percentage, but it’s 345,000 shows. The result? “Choice Fatigue.” Steve offers a five-point recovery plan. Essential reading for creators at all levels. Continue Reading
“The state of podcasts” — that’s the title of the newest Audioscape study from Cumulus Media. In it, we learn that podcast audience growth is “on a tear,” and podcast audience demographics are favorable to advertisers. We learn about podcast listening hot spots in the U.S., view a timeline of advertiser perceptions of podcasts, and much more. Click through for a review with graphs and download links for the deck and video. Continue Reading
Magellan AI’s accounting of podcast advertiser spending for April, for the top 15 spenders, shows a total spend down six percent from March. Ten of the top 15 are repeats from the previous months. Three companies are members of RAIN’s unofficial 12-of-12 club. Click for graphics. Continue Reading
Top-tier podcast ad company AdsWizz is announcing that hosting platform Simplecast is now “officially part of the AdsWizz family.” That’s acquisition language, but both companies are acquired subsidiaries of audio giant SiriusXM, so this appears to be an internal tie-up of the two technologies. Click for more. Continue Reading
Edison Research has released its latest Top 50 Podcasts in the US, representing survey results for Q1 listening. The survey method is important in the ranker business; unlike many others, Edison’s survey method opens the door to any podcast in the world. Continue Reading