The Podcast Wars Are About To Get Loud

Author

Michael Beach
July 15, 2021

Worth the time: Matt Flegenheimer @ The New York Times has a deep dive on the relationship between Spotify and The Joe Rogan Experience.

Audience reach:
1) Tucker Carlson on Fox News – ≈ 3M per night
2) Joe Rogan on Spotify – ≈ 5M – 10M per episode (3-5 episodes per week)

Why this matters: The podcast market will surpass $1B this year, and companies such as Spotify have made major bets in this space.

Big question #1: How important is Joe Rogan to Spotify’s podcast strategy?

Quick answer: They have dedicated an entire category to his show!

Annual deal size for Call Her Daddy according to Lightshed Partners:
1) Barstool Sports offer in 2020 – $500K + bonus
2) Spotify deal in 2021 – $20M

Wow: Alex Cooper increased her annual deal size 3,900% by waiting one year!

Podcast advertising (YoY growth) according to PwC:
1) 2015 – $106M
2) 2016 – $169M (↑ 59%)
3) 2017 – $314M (↑ 86%)
4) 2018 – $479M (↑ 53%)
5) 2019 – $708M (↑ 48%)
6) 2020 – $842M (↑ 19%)
7) 2021P – $1.3B (↑ 60%)
8) 2022P – $1.8B (↑ 30%)
9) 2023P – $2.2B (↑ 25%)

Share of podcast advertising by creative type:
1) Host-read – 56%
2) Announcer-read – 35%
3) Agency produced – 9%

Share of podcast advertising by objective:
1) Direct response – 51%
2) Brand awareness – 45%
3) Product placement – 4%

Big question #2: What is the next battleground for podcasts?

Quick answer: Paid podcast subscriptions.

Likelihood to pay for podcast access according to YouGov:
1) Not at all likely – 45%
2) Not very likely – 39%
3) Somewhat likely – 14%
4) Very likely – 2%

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