Audio Lessons from 2024, The Podcast Promotion Landscape, & More

Before we get into the news, a quick heads up that the first Sounds Profitable presentation of 2025 is next week! Join Tom Webster for a half-hour presentation of The Business Podcast Consumer, a look at the audience for business podcasts and what makes them different to the audience of any other genre. Join in next week on Wednesday, January 15th, at 3:00 p.m. EST. Registration is free and open now.

Headliner and Sounds Profitable Release Paid Podcast Promotion Landscape

The new resource is designed to aid podcasters in the world of paid promotion. The Paid Podcast Promotion Landscape offers a bird’s-eye view of the industry ecosystem, inventorying key platforms, tools, and available resources. Headliner has made the document available for free download and we encourage folks working in relevant areas of podcasting not listed to consider submitting for a future update. And for a more zoomed-out look at the podcasting industry, check out The Podscape.

Podcasts are taking over TV screens as video formats grow increasingly popular by Angela Yang

A mainstream news outlet covering podcasting’s growing popularity, particularly the surging popularity of podcasts being consumed on TV over traditional talk show programming. In addition, podcasting made a splash last year with some of the biggest programs becoming national news items when presidential candidates appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, and Call Her Daddy. Tom Webster, quoted in the piece, points to communal capabilities of video podcasting over talk-show TV. A video podcast on YouTube has a comment section where audiences can engage and build community, as well as interact with the hosts and guests in a way TV does not allow.

Navigating the landscape of serialized podcasts by Dan Misener

A piece that establishes what qualifies as a serialized podcast, how consumption patterns differ from traditional week-to-week series, and reasons why a production would favor a serialized production over a talk show. For instance, as The Podcast Landscape 2024 found, 74% of US podcast consumers who listened to a limited series in the past year went on to find another podcast to listen to. To demonstrate the interconnectedness of serialized podcast listenership, Bumper has built out several interactive graphs mapping out serial podcast neighborhoods.

5 Things We Learned from 65,000+ Audio Listeners in 2024 By Paul Riismandel

Signal Hill Insights shared their collected data from 2024, the highlight statistic being that 70% of the 65,000 surveyed audio listeners include podcasts in their audio diet. Big takeaways include that podcasts have now hit the mainstream, as a majority of adults in the U.S. and Canada have listened to a podcast at least once, and that said podcast audience is not a monolith. People come to podcasts for a variety of reasons, whether to be entertained, educated, or updated on their industry’s big stories. The better producers are able to understand how these different needs translate into genre and show choice, the better they can set creators – and listeners – up for success.

Advertising’s dealmakers are gearing up for a 2025 surge By Seb Joseph

From LiveRamo’s acquisition of Habu to Walmart acquiring Vizio, 2025 is off to a strong start for merger and acquisitions. However, founders and executives report that the pressure is mounting to close deals and show investors substantial returns. With the incoming presidential administration, companies are watching for signs that the flow of M&A could be disrupted, although none have presented themselves so far. Cautiously optimistic, industry leaders are focused on consolidation and preparation for a healthy macroeconomic climate to hopefully continue.