New from JAR Audio and Sounds Profitable: The Sounds Profitable Educational Series continues with a new report that looks at a section of respondents to the 2024 survey of 5,071 Americans aged 18+. Of respondents asked their likelihood to consume a podcast about a favorite brand or product, Brand Fans make up the 15% who said Very Likely. Key findings in the report include the fact Brand Fans trend younger than the overall U.S. population, they often use YouTube for podcast consumption/discovery, and are evangelists of podcasting with 76% of Brand Fans recommending shows to their social circle. The report is currently live for free download, as well as an hour-long webinar featuring Tom Webster, JAR Audio director of audience growth Liz Hames, and Andrea Marquez, Senior Producer and Host, Podcast Programming at Amazon.
Sounds Profitable’s next big report, data from which is set to be revealed in Chicago next month (see Quick Hits below) includes a thorough benchmark of podcasting’s awareness, to trial, to regular usage statistics in comparison to other media channels. In preparation for that, Webster highlights the Podcast Landscape 2024 information on that relationship, which found the conversion rate for someone trying out podcasting to becoming a weekly consumer is just 50%. He then breaks down three aspects of other “daily driver” forms of media that podcasting could adopt to increase the success rate in converting a trial user into a weekly consumer. Chief among them being the lack of a simple button to push to get something individual listeners want. Radios have five buttons. Facebook gives you everything you go to Facebook for by simply clicking the app to open it. Library-based systems, from podcast apps to Netflix, struggle to give you immediate access to something you want without requiring an ever-growing series of buttons to pick from.
Commercial audio listening has ‘reached critical mass’ – and is still growing
Audio continues to grow in the UK. RAJAR’s MIDAS data shows commercial audio accounts for the lion’s share of listenership, with 56% going to broadcast radio, 28% to linear radio over IP, and 11% to podcasting (with streamed music picking up 5%). A report from industry trade body Radiocentre, Speed of Sound, finds the UK adult weekly reach for podcasts has risen from 8% in 2018 to 16.4%. Podcasting’s growth in the country is also benefitted by new and improving ad tech, attribution capabilities, and brands becoming more savvy with trying out new formats (e.g. video games with in-game audio ads).
How ad-supported streaming services stack up for marketers, from Amazon to YouTube by Catherine Wolf
An overview of the top ad-supported streaming services, along with an analysis of where brands and agencies spent most of their marketing dollars in 2024. Despite reports of fewer brands spending a lot on YouTube, Digiday’s research finds YouTube wins the majority of ad placements in Q1 of this year, placing #1 with 69% of respondents choosing the platform when answering the question “which ad-supported streaming services does your company place ads on?” Amazon Prime with ads comes second at 38%, with Hulu in third with 33%.
From Subscription Wars to Subscription Stacking: How Bundling Took Over by Kirby Grines
New research from Bango (sorry, Milwaukee Bucks fans, different Bango) surveyed 5,000 U.S. consumers to get a sense of subscription bundling in the U.S. According to the report the average American pays for 5.4 subscriptions, but two of them are now acquired through bundles or indirect deals. 55% of subscribers get at least one service through their cell phone provider, and 34% get subscriptions through an existing subscription with a retailer (e.g. Walmart+ or Amazon Prime). Subscription bundling is also growing its footprint in podcasting, with offerings like Slate Plus and The Binge grouping shows/networks together into one payment.
As for the rest of the news…
- Evolutions by Podcast Movement has announced Sounds Profitable partner Tom Webster will be hosting a keynote talk called The Advertising Landscape: Podcasting’s Place in the Ad-Supported Media Universe, in which he will share early data from the largest study of podcast advertising effectiveness in America.
- Lock It In, the production company founded by Absolute Radio presenter Andy Bush, has partnered with Adelicious to bring existing and upcoming podcasts to the network.
- Evergreen Podcasts and Rhapsody Voices have signed an exclusive sales and distribution partnership with Jean Chatzky’s HerMoney podcast, an award-winning series focusing on increasing women’s financial literacy and independence.
- Variety covers the announcement that Bill Simmons, founder of The Ringer, has renewed his contract as Spotify’s Head of Talk Strategy
