High Fidelity: Audible Rides Audio Boom with Big Investments in Original Content by Cynthia Littleton
Audio fiction, a bedrock of radio dating back to the earliest days of audio drama, has become a hotbed for testing new IP before committing to a full TV or film shoot. But on top of that are the companies committing to making audio is the primary focus. Production companies like Wondery, Campside Media, Pineapple Street Studios, and Audible. The latter has upped their original content in recent years by courting both emerging writers and casting established names like Kerry Washington, Jesse Eisenberg, and Daniel Dae Kim. A good business to get into, as Sounds Profitable data shows a little over 40% of U.S. adult respondents say they’ve listened to at least one podcast in the last month, about the same amount of people who’ve partaken of an audiobook. [Source]
Investor, Inorganic
A growing tactic in direct-to-consumer marketing is for companies to onboard influencers or popular content creators in some capacity, be it as stakeholders, co-founders, or financial backers of that brand. While the creators might genuinely believe in the product when they sign on, it opens a Pandora’s box of advertising issues. The National Advertising Division, a Better Business Bureau-backed watchdog group that looks for loopholes in self-regulation standards, argues these investments should be disclosed. Something for podcasting to keep in mind as the industry matures and podcast hosts continue to grow stronger relationships with the DTC brands they’ve worked with for extended periods of time. [Source]
GroupM to double media spend on women’s sports by Michael Bürgi
GroupM has announced intention to double investment commitment this year, and wants to create a standalone women’s sports marketplace for this year’s upfront marketplace. And given the price difference between advertising on men’s games versus women’s, advertising dollars can make a bigger splash in the growing women’s field. One example given was the savings from cutting down just one men’s NBA final game advertising budget, a company could theoretically buy an entire seasons’ worth of sponsorship of a women’s sports league. And for advertisers thinking about where to go: There’s plenty of women’s sports podcasts to go around, such as editaudio’s WNBA-focused series Rebound Revolution. [Source]
Why True Crime Podcasts are Great for Advertisers by Lisa Risk
Strategic Media Inc. breaks down the data about True Crime’s grip on podcasting. Such as Pew Research’s study of over 450 top podcasts that found 24% of those podcasts are True Crime. Steve Mondor, Podcast Operations at SMI, believes the genre’s success is based in the inherently intimate nature of audio. Podcasts are built for sharing the thrills and storytelling that generally come packaged in True Crime. And advertisers find success in the genre. According to Magellan AI numbers there was just over $65 million ad spend tracked in 2020 for True Crime podcasts. That number increased to $178 million by 2023. [Source]
…as for the rest of the news:
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The New York Times covers the growing phenomenon of child stars finding their “second act” reconnecting with older Gen Z and Millennial fans as adults in podcasting.
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Wondery COO Jeanine Wright is leaving the company.
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Airwave plans to to launch a book imprint with BenBella.
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And Bill Maher is launching a podcast network, with Sage Steele set to host the first show.
