This Week in the Business of Podcasting
Hey howdy hey, it’s cold out there today. This week we’re talking about a fair amount of data, and what it means for the future of podcasting. Let’s get to reading before I start my umpteenth batch of soup prepared this winter.
Transparency. Performance. Automation.
Attention sports fans coming to On Air Fest: it’s time to reserve your spot at the ESPN 30 for 30 Lounge to pitch a new 30 for 30 podcast episode! Last year’s open pitch sessions went so well there’s currently an episode based on one currently in production. If you’ve got a sport story that’d fit 30 for 30, from football to marble runs, you can reserve your shot now. Pitches are open to On Air Fest ticket holders, which are available here.
Podcast Listening Grows While Overall Listening Decreases
This Thursday from Tom Webster, a recent Edison Research Share of Ear release included a graph indicating audio listenership has returned to something similar to ‘normal’ listenership in 2019 before the pandemic lockdowns radically changed consumption habits. A quote from Webster:
“While the crazy COVID-fueled surge in at-home listening seems to have finally rinsed out, what passes for “normalcy” is not the 254 minutes of 2015 but the just-prior-to-COVID 230 minutes of 2019. The peak of 254 minutes per day of audio consumption in 2015 has gradually eroded to 234 minutes in 2024 – a decline of about 8%. But here’s where it gets interesting for podcasters – during this same period, podcast listening in both share and total minutes has actually increased year over year.”
In the short term, Webster notes it’s more important than ever to have a video strategy and to act on it. Meeting audiences where they are in a world where audio is losing ground means meeting them on video platforms. Another quote from Webster:
“The decline in overall audio consumption doesn’t have to be permanent. But reversing it requires us to be more intentional about how we position audio content. We need to stop assuming that people will naturally gravitate to audio and start actively selling its benefits. After all, we aren’t just competing with other podcasts – we’re competing with the very notion that audio is worth people’s time at all.”
It won’t be an easy battle, or a quick one, but it’s one worth fighting.
Targeting the Wide With the Niche
This Thursday from True Native Media’s Sabrina Nielsen: Podcasting has a lot of advertising opportunities, and Nielsen suggests there’s under-appreciated riches to be found if advertisers head downstream past the chart-topping podcasts towards those with more specific interests. A quote from Nielsen:
“Despite their specialized focus, niche podcasts reach a surprisingly diverse audience that overlaps with the broader, more mainstream listener base. This overlap has significant implications for advertisers looking to connect with highly engaged listeners in a more meaningful and cost-effective way.”
As Adopter Media’s piece on the benefits of long-tail podcast advertising notes, niche topic podcasts historically have less competition for ad space, resulting in better ROI for advertisers that partner with them. This also comes with the added benefit of smaller tight-knit audiences having more engagement with the host. The same ad spot that would’ve been far more expensive on a large podcast can still hit the same audiences with overlapped interests for cheaper and the audience will be more leaned-in to support a brand that makes their favorite niche show possible, versus the latest sponsor in a long line supporting a storied financially successful series.
How Americans Are Using Phones At Work, And Podcasts In Their Commute
This Tuesday, RSS.com published the results of a new survey into personal phone usage while at work, built from a survey of over 3,400 adults over two weeks in December 2024.
According to the data, the average American clocks just over three hours of personal minutes on their phone during an average workday. 30 minutes of that time is spent consuming podcasts, with respondents in Texas over-indexing to an average of 59 minutes of podcast per day.
Continuing the trend of podcasting connecting with folks throughout the day, Acast has published a new report on podcast consumption during commutes.The report is built from a OnePulse survey of 350 weekly podcast listeners. Of the top three activities respondents listed as doing while listening to podcasts, “while commuting” tied with “while relaxing” for second place at 48%. Commuting podcast listeners are 22% more likely than overall listeners to be ‘very focused’ while listening, and 10% more likely to always listen to podcast ads.
Both reports reaffirm a long-held selling point of podcasting as both a medium and an advertising tool: podcasts are a companion medium, they’re in listener’s ears while they do the dishes, drive to work, and even while they file their TPS reports.
Looking Back at Election Podcast Strategy
This Monday Ashley Carman at Bloomberg dedicated a section of her Soundbite newsletter to an overview of the Sunday mega-article built by seven reporters covering nine podcasters who interviewed Donald Trump during the 2024 election. Carman uses Soundbite to drill down to some key data points discussed, including signs as to how and why the Harris campaign’s podcast strategy seemed to fizzle out in comparison to Trump’s.
One sizable clue is raw view count difference, with YouTube video podcast episodes featuring Trump reached 113.6 million views while Harris racked up 6.8 million. A big contributor to this gulf is Trump securing an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, while Harris’ campaign could not lock down a viable recording date (as detailed on Pod Save America).
Put a different way, Harris only appeared on one Spotify top ten charting podcast during the campaign, while Trump appeared on four. Another difference between the two is Trump’s campaign tended to stay within the gravitational pull of ‘manosphere’ podcasts while Harris podcast appearances varied wildly in tone and topic as she appeared on shows with wildly different focuses and audiences, from Club Shay Shay to Call Her Daddy.
Quick Hits
While they may not be top story material, the articles below from this week are definitely worth your time:
- According to Podnews reporting, SiriusXM has announced a round of layoffs that impact podcast teams and Earwolf, with 100 roles impacted. With that in mind we’d like to remind readers that Sounds Profitable hosts a free public job board for open positions from companies in the business of podcasting, updated daily as new positions come in. If you’re looking to hire, or looking for a new position, we’ve got over sixty listings currently at SoundsProfitable.com/Jobs
- Why Ad-Free is Lazy: The Case for Podcast Ads An upcoming webinar discussion between Right Side Up’s Krystina Rubino and our very own Bryan Barletta about the myths surrounding ad-free podcasting.
- VoxTopica’s Ask Us Anything Webinar Voxtopica is holding a virtual AMA on podcast production on Tuesday, February 11, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm ET
- Kantar Media sold for $1B amid measurement landscape upheaval by Peter Adams The unit of Kantar Group was sold to private-equity firm H.I.G. Capital in a move to expand its measurement capabilities.
- Alan Abdine’s Thoughts on Call Her Daddy Going Exclusive YMH Studios’ Head of Ad Revenue Alan Abdine reflects on the pros and cons of exclusivity in podcasting in the wake of Alex Cooper removing her flagship podcast’s video episodes from Spotify to go YouTube exclusive.
- Engaging Black Audiences: How brands impact, grow and win with inclusion The latest entry in Nielsen’s Diverse Intelligence Series highlights data regarding Black audiences in the U.S., with a notable statistic that 73% of Black podcast listener respondents recalling a brand name after ad exposure, 3% higher than the 70% overall rate.
