New Podcast Landscape Study, Why Big-Ticket Podcast Deals Happen, & More

The Podcast Landscape, 2024

Sounds Profitable has published the 2024 edition of The Podcast Landscape, a study on audience perceptions of podcasting. This edition, fielded with Signal Hill Insights, surveyed 5,071 Americans aged 18+, making it the largest publicly-available study of podcasting in the country. Key findings include the fact podcasting is still generating new hits. When asked to list their top five favorite podcasts, respondents still chose familiar shows like The Joe Rogan Experience, but this year five new shows enter the top 20 results. The industry continues to index high with men and the 18-34 demographic, meaning podcast audiences aged 55+ and women are solid opportunities for audience growth. The study launched with an hour-long presentation by Tom Webster, a recording of which is available on Sounds Profitable.

Podcasting in the Creator Economy: A Long-Term Opportunity

In December the IAB published a study called The Creator Economy Opportunity. Recently the IAB has published a follow-up document focusing specifically on podcasting’s ability to drive influence and engagement. According to an MRI-Simmons Podcast Study from this April, 76% of respondents say they feel close to the host in the podcasts they listen to. 62% feel it’s important for a podcast host to have used a product or service they read an ad for. The report also cites Sounds Profitable’s Ad Bargain from earlier this year, which demonstrates podcasting’s effectiveness in the lower portion of the sales funnel, with 9% of respondents taking action on a podcast ad in comparison to 3% taking action due to CTV (connected television) ads.

Edison Podcast Metrics UK – Top 25 Q2 2024 by Adam Bowie

Edison Research’s ranker of the top 25 UK podcasts by weekly podcast consumer has some new faces, with four new entries to the top 25 and Crime Junkie re-joining the chart after dropping out for Q1. Bowie attributes the shake-up last quarter to two big events: the General Election being called in the UK, and the European Championships with England in the finals. While both of these events took place in early Q3, the build-up discussion likely drove the surge of politics and sports-based podcasting, such as The Rest is Football jumping 11 spots from Q1.

$100 Million Podcast Deals Are Back, but Not for Just Any Celebrity by Reggie Ugwu

After a turbulent 2023, big-ticket podcast deals seemed to be off the table. Yet multiple exclusivity deals have been announced this year, some valued in the hundreds of millions. Alex Cooper is moving her Unwell Network from Spotify distribution to SXM, the Kelce brothers are taking their massively successful New Heights to Wondery, who also nabbed SmartLess earlier this year. Meanwhile The Joe Rogan Experience reportedly fetched $250 million to re-up their Spotify contract (sans video exclusivity this time). The big difference between the COVID-boom years of massive podcast deals and contemporary big-ticket deals are consistently happening with proven podcasts that both currently make money and likely will for the foreseeable future, not the promise of a good podcast.

Gen Z and compassion fatigue—how brands can engage an exhausted generation by Camille Nizet

Compassion fatigue, a term coined in the early 90s by a nurse who noticed a unique form of burnout affecting caregivers/medical professionals, now feels appropriate to apply to Gen Z. The always-online generation has unfettered access to a 24/7 news cycle and never-ending social media feed of tragedies around the world. CDC data finds 47% of Gen Z report feeling anxious and 33% feel hopeless. Brands can help combat this general fatigue with campaigns centered around solving a problem in an impactful way, especially focusing on infectious positive energy. Given the intimate parasocial connection between podcast hosts and audiences, podcast ads would be a further shortcut to connecting with compassion-fatigued Gen Z audiences.

As for the rest of the news…