Podcast to capture 20% ad market share; reach $1B+ in 2021 — eMarketer

In eMarketer’s latest projection of ad revenue to podcasting, the market research company forecasts two headline points:

  • Podcasting ad revenue will surpass $1-billion in 2021
  • Podcast ad revenue will capture 20% of digital radio ad spending in 2020

Here is a graph which captures the first projection:

iMarketer’s summary states: “By the end of 2020, podcast ad spending in the US will reach $782.0 million, up 10.4% from last year, giving it a 21.0% share of the US digital radio ad market. And in 2021, spending will jump nearly 45% to $1.13 billion.”

“Growth in podcast advertising spend will be more resilient this year relative to digital radio advertising as a whole, which will see double-digit declines,” said eMarketer forecasting director at Insider Intelligence Shelleen Shum. “The continued growth in podcast advertising is no surprise, as investments have made podcasts accessible to a wider audience. The news genre, a focus of many podcast advertisers, has performed well during the pandemic. While some ad campaigns were paused in H1 due to the uncertainty from COVID-19 lockdowns, we expect a rebound in Q3 and Q4.”

The report also notes than 4% of podcast ads will  be bought programmatically in 2020; up to 6% next year. eMarketer expects triple-digit growth going forward “as investments in audience measurement and the shift from untrackable baked-in ads toward dynamically inserted ones pave the way for programmatic buys. By 2022, 8.0% of podcast ads will be traded programmatically.”

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Brad Hill