Urban, Suburban, Rural Listening Differences
Edison Research has a new Weekly Insight focusing on data from their Q4 2023 Share of Ear study. This time, they’re looking at the share of time spent listening to audio sources, collected from surveys of U.S residents aged 13 and up. AM/FM radio maintains a strong foothold in rural life, taking up 43% of daily audio listening time for rural listeners (radio in suburban and urban areas gets 36% and 24% share respectively). Podcasting remains a largely urban activity, getting 13% share of listen-time while rural listeners only spend 6% of their time with our medium. Edison notes that if one combines podcast and radio shares for each location they add up to between 47% and 49%. Audiences in urban, suburban, and rural areas seem to have a set “time budget” for radio and podcasting combined, just with different amounts of that budget divided out to podcasting. [Source]
Advertisers Are On Edge, But IAS Is In Fine Fettle by Hana Yoo
As covered yesterday, the impending retirement of third party cookies is no small source of stress for many in advertising. Except for those who, instead of trying to bake a new cookie, are choosing existing tools and strategies for the post-cookie future. Advertising’s departure from the cookie jar is podcasting’s boon, as the industry’s ability to contextually identify, target, and offer brand safety and suitability is unparalleled. VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) as a creative format enables podcasting to replicate every aspect of what these tools offer in other mediums, with real time, advertiser- controlled decisioning. Which then pairs with the fact nearly every podcasting platform with dynamic ad insertion capabilities already support VAST tags directly, or through programmatic, making it all the easier for publishers to enable. Podcasting is geared to thrive in the post-cookie future, having lived and grown without them already to this point. How other channels will fare remains to be seen. [Source]
Audio agency ARM looks to boost streaming buys in podcasting with its own audience buying platform Antoinette Siu
Ad Results Media has announced a new platform named ARM Pro, which allows brands to access a suite of tools for buying target audiences. Audiences that are vetted by ARM’s teams for direct and programmatic deals, aiming to make sure advertisers are spending precious impressions on relevant audience members. ARM vice president of media Gretchen Smith told Digiday the Pro platform enables the company to optimize the supply side of podcast advertising to be as direct as possible. [Source]
…as for the rest of the news:
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This week the Media Roundtable podcast features Pete Birsinger of Podscribe. Since the Spotify acquisition of Podsights, there has been a gap in third party attribution analytics in podcasting, and insights like this episode are how the industry grows past that gap.
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Two Acast co-founders have their sights on digital subscriptions with the new platform Sesamy.
Research Database Snapshot
Source: Veritonic Audio Attention Report
What it says: The quieter voiceover volume is in an ad’s mix, the lower listener’s attention drops.
What it means: Audio quality is as important a factor consider when constructing an audio ad as the script itself.
Why it’s cool: Toning down competing elements and focusing on a clear, strong voice in the mix has a noticeable impact on an ad’s attention-getting capabilities.
