Podcast consumption shifts toward connected TVs by Alexander Lee
A look into the growing connected TV presence in podcasting, following YouTube’s stats showing video podcasts are becoming more and more of a living room television mainstay. For instance, Flight Story’s CRO Christiana Brenton told Digiday 29% of their 2024 YouTube views came from TV screens, growing faster than any other device group. A seismic shift is happening, as Tom Webster’s quote in the article highlights: surveys often ask podcast consumers what device they mostly use for podcasting. The top three are generally the iPhone, Android phones, and computers in that order, with smart TVs in fourth place, and those TVs are gaining momentum.
Podcast Industry Is Twice as Large as Previously Estimated by Lucas Shaw and Ashley Carman
Owl & Co has published a new report, titled The Global Podcast Economy: A Complete Picture, which estimates the global podcast economy in 2024 reached $7.3 billion USD valuation. A key factor is Owl & Co’s numbers include many major revenue streams that aren’t often aggregated: direct-sold ads, programmatic ads, Patreon, Apple Podcasts+, Spotify payouts, and YouTube Premium are all thrown in the mix. Podcasts were still mainly direct ad revenue supported in 2024 ($4.6 billion) but programmatic has a bigger slice of the pie than one might expect ($1.6 billion). Owl & Co. founder Hernan Lopez also notes while the U.S. is the largest podcast market by revenue, he presumes numbers from places like China, Australia, and the U.K. under-represent the actual revenue going around as they are markets still missing foundational podcast-by-podcast, ad-by-ad data provided for U.S. podcasts by platforms like Magellan AI and Podscribe.
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Still Laughing: Why Comedy Podcasts Still Dominate the Attention Economy by Andrew Goldsmith
The Adelicious CEO gives a brief history of comedy as a podcast genre, spotlighting how one of the first breakout hits in the U.K. podcasting scene was The Ricky Gervais Show in 2005 (which would go on to launch two TV spinoffs in 2010). Comedy podcasts remain one of the smartest choices for brands due to their multi-platform nature. Comedians by trade are multifaceted with audiences spread across social, live events, merch, books, and their podcast. Stand-up comics are uniquely suited for bringing a dedicated audience and delivering a branded message in an engaging, entertaining way.
As for the rest of the news…
- Wunderbar! Wondery has forged their first podcast distribution and monetization deals in Germany, starting with 50 + 2 – The Football Podcast.
- Flightpath is bringing something special in their carry-on to London, as the company plans to unveil predictive video analytics at The Podcast Show London later this month.
- Australian outlet AdNews reports SCA (Southern Cross Austero) has passed ARN Media on the Australian Securities Exchange, with ARN trading at 53 cents and SCA at 74 cents a share.
- Keeping in Australia a bit longer: the ABC is investing in the next generation of comedy podcasting with a program dubbed New Wave. Applications are open for podcast pitches from “emerging and mid-career” comedy podcasters, from which four teams will be selected to be funded for training workshops in July followed by pre-production services using ABC resources to develop comedy podcasts.
- Bouncing to a different corner of the Commonwealth, Acast is partnering with UK producer Audio Always to launch Get A Grip, a podcast featuring TV and radio personalities Angela Scanlon and Vicky Pattinson, with Acast handling advertising and distribution.
- Time to dig out your favorite DVD wearing a parka, as Evergreen Podcasts is launching Northern Disclosure, a celebrity rewatch podcast in which Rob Morrow and Janine Turner go through the 1990 sitcom Northern Exposure episode by episode.
