“The Pandemic, Consolidation, and a Surge in Ad Spending: Reflection on a Year in Podcasting.”

By Andrew Craissati, CEO and Founder of Auddy.

Let’s set the scene. Edison Research (“The Infinite Dial 2021”) notes around 176 million Americans are weekly online audio listeners: an all-time high. Of this, 80 million are weekly podcast listeners and more diverse than ever. In addition, 94 million Americans now own a smart speaker (nearly five times the 2017 figure). Leading audio researcher Tom Webster of Edison Research goes on to add, “the space has never been more vibrant, or more diverse than it is today. We also know that 88% of Americans own a smartphone, and 44% of 12-34 year olds use TikTok.”

Other markets are similar in their positive audio trends. The U.K. government (Ofcom) recently announced that 40% of the 25-44 aged population listen weekly to podcasts and that ad spend on the medium had seen a 43% uplift in 2020.

Culturally, podcasting was first an American phenomenon, arising from the 2004 launch of Apple’s iPod and moving mainstream with the substitution with the iPhone and the penetration of smartphones. Its growth in listeners, creators, and advertisers preceded the rest of the world. Today, the non-US markets are now taking heed. We see evidence of growth in three key communities: the advertisers and their spend, the listener base, and its dedication (in hours) to the medium and the volume of podcast content now available. Podcasting is commonly considered an intimate experience: the notion of someone talking, quite literally, in your ears means that a well-produced and high fidelity-sounding experience can be enjoyable, inspirational, educational, and very personal. Add to this all the skills now being learned and honed by creators and producers, and the demand for good quality audio content is at an all-time high.

Radio and the Podcast Industry: Friend or Foe?

It’s often been argued that radio is dead. Well, that’s clearly not the case. While rural F.M. stations and AM signal stations might have suffered and scaled back in number, the only meaningful negative impact seems to be a worsening in the ad revenue for all-news radio stations and a slight dropping off in the audience. Podcasting has become a critical part of the assets of radio stations worldwide. Recently, the U.K.’s Global Radio (a leading fixture on the radio and outdoor advertising landscape and a recent bidder for a 49.9% stake in iHeart Radio in the U.S.) began leveraging podcasts as an additional revenue stream and audience retention tool. In doing so, they have experienced an uplift in engagement and new active listeners: iHeart’s Conal Byrne, president of its podcast network, stated “Broadcast radio has long served as a trusted voice in local communities during times of crisis and uncertainty, and now podcasts are also playing an integral role as a much-needed companion for millions of Americans” (noted in March 2020, during the first pandemic wave).

Podcast consumption was originally the domain of the “on the move” individual – in the automobile (particularly in the U.S.) during the commute, on the train and bus, in the gym, while jogging, etc. Covid adjusted this thinking: a cutback in commuting led to a higher “at home” listening experience, and we know that the smart speaker played a role in this experience.

The consequences of Covid were to be inevitable. ‘At home’ time and isolation meant more consumption of entertainment and content, higher online spending (“Amazon.com continues to profit off pandemic shopping habits, posting Q1 2021 record profit of $8.11 billion” – CBS News) and therefore logical and higher spending by advertisers. Indeed, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC concluded that 2020 digital advertising grew 12.2% over 2019, despite an initial falloff at the outset of the year and despite the pandemic.

Podcasting has benefitted from the work from home, and stay at home, revolution.

Today, it is suggested that well over 10 million English language podcasts have been created, representing maybe 75m – 150m individual episodes. Over 500,000 podcasts were published just in the first six months of 2021. With an estimated 1 billion global listeners by the end of the year and platforms such as Spotify, Amazon’s Audible, and others reporting solid results as a consequence, the audio podcast industry has now seen strong financial performance and a shift in messaging. For example, Spotify Investor Relations now uses “audio content” instead of “music”: a telling shift.

What is the direction of travel for the podcasting industry?

Amidst this scale and super-sized ecosystem now comes chaos, confusion, and competition: too many podcasts chasing so many listeners and in search of growing ad spend by advertisers. The hobbyists, just like on YouTube, will account for the ever-decreasing share of the consumption, and the premium content will find the disproportionate share of both ears and revenue. To achieve this, creators will increasingly rely on skilled and technology-enabled intermediaries or publishers established to create the audiences for shows, maximise the distribution of podcasts to all platforms and across all devices, and generate strong revenues. The reference to technology is telling: today’s measurement of podcast popularity is still a rather acquainted notion of counting the number of times a podcast is distributed to listeners (whether as a download or as a “stream”). Advertisers, knowing this, seek out higher levels of information regarding actual consumption and actual behaviour by the listener (after all, the advertiser wants to know if people are listening – not downloading – and if they’re skipping past the commercials: this affects their views of the cost of advertising.

New generation publishers like Auddy are moving the market towards solutions that drive higher analytics and meaningful data. The combination of smart analytics, quality content, and broad and ubiquitous distribution means Auddy-published podcasts have the potential to find larger audiences, attractive CPM rates paid by advertisers, and loyalty among consuming patrons. This market has just got mainstream and super-interesting.

By Andrew Craissati, CEO and Founder of Auddy.

Let’s set the scene. Edison Research (“The Infinite Dial 2021”) notes around 176 million Americans are weekly online audio listeners: an all-time high. Of this, 80 million are weekly podcast listeners and more diverse than ever. In addition, 94 million Americans now own a smart speaker (nearly five times the 2017 figure). Leading audio researcher Tom Webster of Edison Research goes on to add, “the space has never been more vibrant, or more diverse than it is today. We also know that 88% of Americans own a smartphone, and 44% of 12-34 year olds use TikTok.”

Other markets are similar in their positive audio trends. The U.K. government (Ofcom) recently announced that 40% of the 25-44 aged population listen weekly to podcasts and that ad spend on the medium had seen a 43% uplift in 2020.

Culturally, podcasting was first an American phenomenon, arising from the 2004 launch of Apple’s iPod and moving mainstream with the substitution with the iPhone and the penetration of smartphones. Its growth in listeners, creators, and advertisers preceded the rest of the world. Today, the non-US markets are now taking heed. We see evidence of growth in three key communities: the advertisers and their spend, the listener base, and its dedication (in hours) to the medium and the volume of podcast content now available. Podcasting is commonly considered an intimate experience: the notion of someone talking, quite literally, in your ears means that a well-produced and high fidelity-sounding experience can be enjoyable, inspirational, educational, and very personal. Add to this all the skills now being learned and honed by creators and producers, and the demand for good quality audio content is at an all-time high.

Radio and the Podcast Industry: Friend or Foe?

It’s often been argued that radio is dead. Well, that’s clearly not the case. While rural F.M. stations and AM signal stations might have suffered and scaled back in number, the only meaningful negative impact seems to be a worsening in the ad revenue for all-news radio stations and a slight dropping off in the audience. Podcasting has become a critical part of the assets of radio stations worldwide. Recently, the U.K.’s Global Radio (a leading fixture on the radio and outdoor advertising landscape and a recent bidder for a 49.9% stake in iHeart Radio in the U.S.) began leveraging podcasts as an additional revenue stream and audience retention tool. In doing so, they have experienced an uplift in engagement and new active listeners: iHeart’s Conal Byrne, president of its podcast network, stated “Broadcast radio has long served as a trusted voice in local communities during times of crisis and uncertainty, and now podcasts are also playing an integral role as a much-needed companion for millions of Americans” (noted in March 2020, during the first pandemic wave).

Podcast consumption was originally the domain of the “on the move” individual – in the automobile (particularly in the U.S.) during the commute, on the train and bus, in the gym, while jogging, etc. Covid adjusted this thinking: a cutback in commuting led to a higher “at home” listening experience, and we know that the smart speaker played a role in this experience.

The consequences of Covid were to be inevitable. ‘At home’ time and isolation meant more consumption of entertainment and content, higher online spending (“Amazon.com continues to profit off pandemic shopping habits, posting Q1 2021 record profit of $8.11 billion” – CBS News) and therefore logical and higher spending by advertisers. Indeed, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC concluded that 2020 digital advertising grew 12.2% over 2019, despite an initial falloff at the outset of the year and despite the pandemic.

Podcasting has benefitted from the work from home, and stay at home, revolution.

Today, it is suggested that well over 10 million English language podcasts have been created, representing maybe 75m – 150m individual episodes. Over 500,000 podcasts were published just in the first six months of 2021. With an estimated 1 billion global listeners by the end of the year and platforms such as Spotify, Amazon’s Audible, and others reporting solid results as a consequence, the audio podcast industry has now seen strong financial performance and a shift in messaging. For example, Spotify Investor Relations now uses “audio content” instead of “music”: a telling shift.

What is the direction of travel for the podcasting industry?

Amidst this scale and super-sized ecosystem now comes chaos, confusion, and competition: too many podcasts chasing so many listeners and in search of growing ad spend by advertisers. The hobbyists, just like on YouTube, will account for the ever-decreasing share of the consumption, and the premium content will find the disproportionate share of both ears and revenue. To achieve this, creators will increasingly rely on skilled and technology-enabled intermediaries or publishers established to create the audiences for shows, maximise the distribution of podcasts to all platforms and across all devices, and generate strong revenues. The reference to technology is telling: today’s measurement of podcast popularity is still a rather acquainted notion of counting the number of times a podcast is distributed to listeners (whether as a download or as a “stream”). Advertisers, knowing this, seek out higher levels of information regarding actual consumption and actual behaviour by the listener (after all, the advertiser wants to know if people are listening – not downloading – and if they’re skipping past the commercials: this affects their views of the cost of advertising.

New generation publishers like Auddy are moving the market towards solutions that drive higher analytics and meaningful data. The combination of smart analytics, quality content, and broad and ubiquitous distribution means Auddy-published podcasts have the potential to find larger audiences, attractive CPM rates paid by advertisers, and loyalty among consuming patrons. This market has just got mainstream and super-interesting.