The One-Show Wonders by Tom Webster
Sounds Profitable’s Tom Webster digs into this year’s Podcast Landscape genre data, drawn from 3,118 monthly podcast consumers surveyed in August. Comedy gave up four points but remains the most consumed genre, with True Crime now level, while Political Talk slid from second to fifth, Celebrity Interview lost three, and History was the only statistically significant gainer. The bigger shift is in how many genres people name at all, as the share of monthly consumers who consume exactly one genre rose from 12% to 16%.
These one-genre consumers, or “one-show wonders,” are older and lighter than the rest of the audience, as 36% are 55 or older versus 27% and only 26% spent five or more hours with podcasts last week versus 47%. They come in through a show, as 96% can name a favorite, and 34% found it on YouTube while routes through other podcasts lag. The growth came from people whose primary platform is a video service or Spotify, and among video-first consumers, 74% find their next podcast on YouTube while only 32% name any discovery route that runs through another podcast.
Webster offers two readings of the data. Either the 16% are early on a path the medium has seen before, or single-show consumers are a durable type who will never think of themselves as podcast people. His guess is that churn tells the story, since overall reach did not grow even though 8% of Americans say they only recently discovered podcasts, which implies an offsetting number are giving up on the medium. He also notes that Celebrity Interview, the genre publishers and platforms are promoting hardest, reached fewer past-week video podcast watchers this year, down from 26% to 22%. For creators, the takeaway is that if the platform has no reason to recommend a second podcast, the host has to, so he suggests spending a minute of every episode on cross-promotion. He also wants the industry’s biggest publishers to push their stars to talk about other shows, because as he puts it, “They take; I want them to give.”
Audion and YouGov Unveil Major Study on Changes in Digital Audio Consumption in France
Audion and YouGov have a new study on digital audio habits in France, built from a September YouGov survey of 1,000 French adults ages 18 and up and also conducted in the U.S., Italy, and the U.K. YouTube is the top listening platform in France, used by 61% of listeners, ahead of Spotify at 38%, Amazon Music and Deezer at 18% each, and Apple Music at 14%. The habit skews young, as 58% of listeners ages 18 to 24 use YouTube for audio versus 25% of those 55 and older.
Few listeners stick to one platform, and even among Spotify users, 74% also listen elsewhere. The line between audio and video is blurring along with it. 66% of listeners often or sometimes use a video platform to listen without watching the screen, and 58% have started content on one platform and finished it on another. That includes audio to video (28%), video to audio (23%), and both directions (32%). Podnews adds that the study suggests the concept of “liquid content” is part of French consumption patterns, and that the morning commute is the peak listening time.
The pattern holds outside France. 79% of American adults, 74% of Italians, and 72% of Britons listened to digital audio in the past month, and YouTube also leads in the U.S. and Italy, where listening on a video platform without watching the screen reaches 66% and 64% of listeners. YouGov’s Julien Chevignon says listening is now defined by moment and intent rather than platform, while Audion’s Geoffrey Fossier says digital audio has become a daily reflex for more than 41 million French people and brands need to meet them wherever they listen.
Three Tips to Prepare for Your Podcast Brand Lift Study by Paul Riismandel
Signal Hill Insights President Paul Riismandel shares advice for agencies, brands, and publishers launching their first podcast brand lift study. His first tip is to plan early, ideally about six weeks before the campaign launches. That leaves time to set KPIs and objectives, choose the shows and creatives to test, and get everyone on board, from buyers, planners, and analysts to brand marketers, producers, and sales or ad ops teams. Riismandel says Signal Hill can put a study together on almost any timeline, but shorter ones can limit what and how it measures and raise the cost.
His second tip is to gather the campaign details, which include the dates and start date, total impressions, views, or downloads, the number of podcasts and placements, and the audience targets. Researchers also need to know the podcast names and genres if available, the split between audio and video inventory, how much is dynamically inserted versus baked in, and the number and types of creatives. Estimates and ranges are fine at the start, and Riismandel says it is better to start early and fill in details as they arrive than to wait for everything to be nailed down.
His third tip is to define the campaign objectives. Brand lift measures upper-funnel metrics like awareness, favorability, consideration, and purchase intent, and a typical campaign aims to move one or two of them. Naming a specific consumer target, such as business decision makers for a B2B brand or hikers and campers for an outdoor brand, lets researchers identify those people in the audience and isolate the lift among them. Riismandel’s bonus tip is not to worry, because the team guides clients through every step once they get in touch.
To watch or to listen? PodPoll 26 reveals why you need a strategy for both
Deadset Studios and Insightfully have released PodPoll 26, their annual study of Australian podcast habits. YouTube’s share of podcast consumption climbed to 55% in the past year, Spotify held steady at 58%, and Australians now also use Netflix for podcast discovery. Audio remains the preferred format, with 60% of regular consumers saying they would rather listen than watch, 23% preferring to watch, and 17% having no preference. Millennials are the generation most likely to prefer listening, and Gen Z is the most open to watching. Overall consumption continues to climb, with 10.3 million Australians now regular monthly listeners, or 50% of the population, up from 47%.
Format preference is not fixed. Among those who use video platforms for podcasts, 72% move between watching and listening, and 43% of regular consumers say some podcasts reach them only through social clips, a figure that rises to 60% among Gen Z. Listeners also stick with what they start, as 77% say they always or mostly finish an episode regardless of format, and Millennials are the power generation, with 71% consuming podcasts regularly. The majority of consumers also say they actively seek out podcasts because they don’t require a screen.
Deadset Director Kellie Riordan says the audience has splintered, which is good news for those who plan for it, and she advises clients to treat video and audio as two distinct products with different jobs. Video drives discovery and clips travel on social, while long-form listening is where the deepest engagement happens. Insightfully Managing Director Leanne White cautions against assuming younger audiences are all video-first, noting that Gen Z men are actually more likely than Gen Z women to prefer audio.
While they may not be top story material, the articles below from this week are definitely worth your time:
- AdsWizz has expanded access to its video podcast monetization for Apple Podcasts to publishers and creators following early testing, pairing audio ads with branded companion banners so no new video ad production is needed.
- On Air Fest announced its first-wave lineup for its 10th edition, February 23 to 25 in Brooklyn, with live tapings of Why Are You Like This, Chasing Life, and 10% Happier and applications open for the invite-only Podcast Business Summit with Bloomberg.
- SiriusXM reported its third quarter results with revenue down slightly to $2.15 billion, net income up 7% to $317 million, and full-year guidance raised by $25 million.
- On PodBiz, SiriusXM Media and AdsWizz’s Molly Ponzo explains how SiriusXM packages its podcast ad inventory across Everywhere, Select, and Custom tiers and argues that audio is undervalued in brand media plans because the mixed media models used to judge ROI were built for display and video.
- PodcastOne says multiple strategic parties have approached it about a potential acquisition, and its board has formed a special committee of independent directors and intends to retain an investment banker.
- Ad Age names Ad Results Media’s Jordan Fox to its 2026 Media Buying Power List. Fox has expanded ARM beyond podcast ads into video, social, and live events.
