Interviewing On Air Fest, 📺 Beats 📱 on YouTube, & More

Tuning in to On Air Fest w. Scott Newman and Jeff Weiner by Bryan Barletta

An interview with work x work creator Scott Newman and On Air Fest Executive Director Jeff Weiner focusing on the creation of On Air Fest, its place in the podcasting industry, and how it keeps things fresh each year. From its roots as a pirate radio station to this year’s addition of a 15,000 square foot gallery space dubbed the Creator Hall. Tickets are still on sale and Sounds Profitable partner companies get a discount (hit reply to find out more).

Year-end Report, January – December 2024

Acast has published their earnings report for last year and, along with Spotify, celebrates its first year in profit. Highlights include 17% net sales growth in Q4 and 19% overall for the year. EBITDA profit for the year works out to 24.3 million SEK, which according to Podnews works out to $2.2 million USD. Overall listens declined last year (13%) but is attributed to the iOS 17 change to Apple Podcasts that corrected for unintended auto-download behavior that’d inflated download statistics across the board.

YouTube Viewing on TV Now Surpasses Mobile, Desktop in U.S. by Todd Spangler

The biggest video streaming platform celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and CEO Neal Mohan says they’ve reached the milestone of TV becoming the number one device for YouTube viewing, beating out desktop and mobile for the first time. Mohan also highlighted how much the creator economy has matured, moving from consumer camcorder footage in the 2000s to Dude Perfect opening a $5 million headquarters, or spicy food interview series Hot Ones having its own hot sauce line. And viewers are actively spending money. According to Mohan, in 2024 over 50% of YouTube channels that earn at least $10,000 on YouTube generated revenue from sources other than advertising income, including shopping recommendations and premium channel memberships. Which aligns the YouTube userbase with that of podcast audiences who frequently support the creation of their favorite content

Mediavision: Podcast listening sets new record in Sweden

Nordic-based analysis and consultancy firm Mediavision has released information built from interviewing a nationally-representative sample of 3,000 Swedish respondents aged 15-74 every quarter. During Q4, almost 2 million people listened to a podcast on an average day in Sweden, up 20% year over year. Swedish audiences also are taking to supporting those podcasts, with the survey finding nearly 450,000 households paid for podcasts last year, a new record for the Mediavision survey. Video podcasting is growing too, with 10% of respondents consuming a video podcast on an average day during Q4.

More Than Ever, Ad Buyers Are Putting Podcast Ads To Work Alongside Other Media

A look at podcast advertising maturing to become part of multi-channel ad campaigns instead of just a singular channel where a campaign starts and stops entirely on its own. Acast’s Senior VP of Creator Network, Veronika Taylor, says the company has seen more podcast show interest in working with brands to monetize beyond just their podcast, including everywhere they connect with their audiences. Executive VP of Audio Sales at AdLarge, Robin Sloan, reports more advertisers are using audio in different ways, with podcasting lending itself to integrations across video, social, and live events. Pod Digital Media CEO Gary Coichy says the entry of well-known figures like entertainers and thought leaders has made podcasting more attractive. Which itself lined up well with adtech maturing to the point brands can get the reach and scale necessary to fully leverage those big names in and around podcasting.

As for the rest of the news…