Advertiser base expanding as podcasts gain against radio and other streamed content
Podcasting continues to grab market share among audio content, according to analysis of several industry reports.
Advertising spend on podcasts in the first quarter of the year jumped 39 percent over Q1 of 2023, and almost 1,500 new brands jumped into podcast advertising, according to the Podcast Advertising Benchmarks 2024 report from Magellan AI.
Business and software services, financial products, food and hobby/lifestyle brands accounted for the most new advertising, and new-to-podcasting brands laid out an average $20,000 spend on ad buys, according to the report.
Nearly half that spending (49 percent) targeted top-500 podcasts, while shows in the #500-3,000 rankings pulled in an average of $27,000 in Q1 revenue.
At the same time, podcasting continues to pull listeners from radio, with 20 percent of listening time devoted to podcasts in Q1, according to The Record report from Nielsen and Edison Research.
The Record is a new report, combining elements from both analytics firms. It will be released quarterly.
Podcasting also offered bright spots in Q1 reports from SiriusXM (owners of Pandora) and Spotify, said Chris Peterson, CEO of DWNLOAD Media.
While both Sirius (SXM) and Spotify reported losses in subscriber base, both highlighted podcasts as growth areas.
Pandora and podcast revenue jumped 7 percent over last quarter and 22 percent over Q1 of 2023, Sirius reported. Spotify cited their biggest gains from 'off-platform revenue," which includes podcasts, Peterson noted.
