Oxford Road Reveals That “OGs” Dominate New Podcasts In Ad Performance
The new ORBIT report focuses on the top 15 performing “OG” podcasts. A podcast defined by it being a show launched before March 2020 when Covid 19 lockdowns led to the podcasting equivalent of a baby boom. Top findings include execution outlasting hype, as 75% of the top performers in podcasting launched pre-pandemic. Their success stems not from flash-in-the-pan virality as far back as 2015, but consistent delivery on high production values. OG podcasts come with a 12% efficiency premium as well, with multi-year listener relationships effectively building armor around the podcast that brand new listeners can’t easily replicate. And with that protective shell of old-head listeners comes lower discovery costs and increased ‘stickiness’ to the show’s advertising.
Companies Are Desperately Seeking ‘Storytellers’ by Katie Deighton
A new Washington Street Journal article looking at the phenomenon of corporations more and more using the phrase “storyteller” in job descriptions when looking for someone to champion brand campaigns. According to LinkedIn, the percentage of job postings with that term has doubled year-over-year from November 26th, with over 50,000 listings. Over on LinkedIn, Sugar23 Director of Business Development James Crane has a great discussion of the piece, discussing some reasons why companies are “desperate” for storytellers. Chief among which: premium entertainment created by an expert storyteller earns attention instead of “renting” it, builds a relationship with the audience, and forms substantial memories. Something podcasting is uniquely good at doing, hint hint, winky-face emoji.
SCOOP: Netflix and iHeart Near Podcast Deal; Videos To Be Pulled From YouTube by Natalie Jarvey
While word has been on the street for a couple weeks that Netflix was looking to court some iHeartMedia podcasts over to its new exclusive video podcasting section early 2026, now we have some more details as to which podcasts. According to Jarvey’s sources, a deal is being struck to take around 20 of iHeart’s popular video podcasts (including The Breakfast Club and Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know behind the Netflix paywall. There has been no official word from either Netflix or iHeartMedia on this proposed batch of shows is heading to (reportedly timed) exclusivity early next year.
- Listener.com founder Casey Adams has a big LinkedIn post with three new announcements for the company, including a new and improved website, a new Inventory Management tool, and an AI chatbot called Listener AI designed for analytics and intelligence questions geared towards the modern podcasting industry.
- Friend of the pod Crime Writers On have published their list of the best true crime podcasts for 2025, topped by Bone Valley season 3, Spotlight: Snitch City from the Boston Globe, and Tenderfoot TV’s Wisecrack.
- Podscribe has two new products designed to save time for both publishers and advertisers: Customer Segments powered by their partnership with TransUnion, and automated Dashboard-to-Deck campaign presentations that generates Google Slide presentations of data about a given podcast directly from the Podscribe dashboard.
