Today in the Business of Podcasting
Rajar Midas: podcasts double weekly reach in six years by Ella Sagar
We start off the day with good news for podcasting in the U.K. According to the latest Midas (Measurement of Internet Delivered Audio Services) survey from Rajar (Radio Joint Audience Research), podcasting’s weekly reach rose from 10.3% in 2017 to 22.1% in 2023. now reaching just over one in five people in the U.K. Mobile listening dominates with 76% of respondents, followed by 11% listening to podcast on laptops, tablets at 6%, and smart speakers at 4%. Co-listening with adults in the UK does not seem to be popular, with Midas finding 94% of respondents listen to podcasts alone, while 34% of respondents co-listen to on-demand music with others. [Source]
The shifts that will impact 2024’s video ad landscape by Jennifer King
According to Antenna research, 25% of subscription video streamers will be ad-supported by the end of this year. VoD CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) are narrowing from last year, with Disney+ and Netflix’s $9 CPM difference shrinking to $0.41. While both have dipped below $50 to average in the $46 to $47 range, it’s worth noting streaming is able to have its cake and eat it too with paid subscriptions and CPMs hovering around fifty bucks. Meanwhile on YouTube, CPMs average around $15, comparable to announcer-read podcast CPMs. [Source]
Defector Annual Report, September 2022 – August 2023
Defector Media, a sports and culture blog formed in the aftermath of the 2019 “stick to sports” exodus from Deadspin, has posted their latest annual report. In addition to an impressively transparent financial breakdown of revenue and expenses, the report goes into great detail about Defector’s strategies over the past year. Among efforts to drive new audiences to the subscription-funded site, podcasting is firmly integrated with multiple in-house productions, as well as a concerted effort to get Defector personalities appearing on relevant podcasts for cross-promotion purposes. According to the report, enough new subscribers mentioning hearing Defector writers appear on other podcasts to justify actively seeking ways to get out in the wider media ecosystem more often. [Source]
How Trader Joe’s, Erewhon, and H-E-B, have cultivated a cult following
In a breakdown of how three companies with strong cult followings maintain their image, Insider Intelligence sources Insider Trader Joe’s, the official branded podcast for grocery chain Trader Joe’s. In one episode host Matt Sloan explains the reasoning behind why Trader Joe’s doesn’t currently (and likely will never) have a customer loyalty program. In another the CEO firmly shot down rumors of self-checkout kiosks being considered (they’re not). While not intentional, this article does show some of the power of branded podcasts. Inside Trader Joe’s passively acted as a first-party source empowering press coverage of the company, including core values. It also gives higher-ups in the company, as high as the CEO, direct access to the company’s most diehard and engaged supporters. Branded audio is a powerful tool and it’s growing fast. We recommend checking out the Brands in Audio database to see just how many branded podcasts there are, and who’s making them (including Inside Trader Joe’s). [Source]
Women more disengaged with news than men
LNew research from the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre finds AU women are more disengaged with news than male respondents. In general mainstream news avoidance trends high in Australia, but according to UC researchers 72% of women avoid the news, compared to 67% of men. The report proposes this gap could be due to lack of relevant coverage and poor representation of issues women care about. Given the podcasting boom Australia has gone through in recent years, there’s potential for journalism-focused publishers to deliver news content to women who might not otherwise read the article or see video coverage online. [Source]
…as for the rest of the news: The Podcast Show 2024 is now accepting session and speaker submissions until Friday, December 8th (and in case you were wondering: Sounds Profitable will be in attendance), Livewire Labs has published an in-depth analysis of the impact of auto-download changes to Apple Podcast in iOS 17, and AdNews interviews Spotify’s head of sales for Australia and New Zealand.
