A new study from Acast, the Podcast Pulse, is built from an Edison Research survey of 1,031 U.S. residents aged 13 and up. The survey results were then weighted for age, gender, ethnicity, and region against the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey and podcast listening habits from the Infinite Dial. Key findings include 80% of respondents saying they know what they want, specifically tuning into niche podcasts. 60% say niche shows are more engaging and are 63% less likely to skip ads. 68% follow three or more podcasters on social media.
Brands unprepared as new FTC deceptive advertising rules take effect by Gordon Young
As of October 14th, new legislation from the FTC regarding fake endorsements and undisclosed influencer partnerships is now law in the U.S., carrying a fine up to $43,792 per violation. One big friction point of the new legislation is the sheer speed at which it was passed, meaning many brands have yet to hear about it before it became legally binding. The crackdown aims to stem the tide of fake reviews, undisclosed paid endorsements, and misleading testimonials.
SCA’s digital audio revenue leads the charge
Australian broadcaster SCA has posted their Q3 earnings report. The company had a 1.5% lift in revenue quarter-over-quarter. Total audio revenue increased 4.8% (totalling $100.4 million AUD) with a growth of 1.1% in broadcast radio and 48.2% in digital audio. Both of which continue a three quarter consecutive streak of growth.
Attention! From Optimizing the News
Back in September AdExchanger broke the story that the MRC and IAB were joining forces to develop standards and certifications for attention metrics. DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Sciences, and Adelaide were originally named as three big players in the early stages of an MRC audit for attention accreditation. Adelaide is poised to be the first of the three to receive their accreditation after a rigorous MRC audit. A process that imparts a level of legitimacy to attention as a metric/the certification process itself.
While the July and October editions of Amazon’s biannual Prime Day event posted positive numbers for the company, their success does not naturally indicate a holly jolly shopping season ahead. Signs point to this year’s holiday shopping season being lukewarm, with consumers more focused on planning ahead and finding the best deals, rather than waiting for the usual end-of-year shopping period. Only 24% of consumers surveyed by Gartner intend on waiting to start their holiday shopping until November or December. This is also compounded by a busy year full of attention-occupying events, from the Olympics to the upcoming U.S. election. Podcasting could be a powerful tool in cutting through that noise and getting brand deals directly to consumers thanks to leaned-in audiences and strong trust in host endorsements.
As for the rest of the news…
- Podnews reports discovering Hoy en EL PAÍS, a podcast produced by newspaper El País, artificially inflated download numbers using the newspaper’s website to auto-download episodes without user intervention
- WorkXWork is taking pitches for On Air Fest
- AdsWizz and NumberEight have partnered to allow podcasters to run multi-platform, targeted, privacy-compliant campaigns
- Pacific Content writes about how podcasting is missing out on advertising opportunities to blue collar listeners
- SXM’s has announced their audio data clean rooms integration with LiveRamp’s Clean Room
- Headgum continues to grow their comedy roster with the recent onboarding of Handsome, with ad sales managed by Gumball
