What’s the Story With Podcast Advertising?

Eight big questions re: podcast advertising:
1) How many people listen to podcasts?
2) How much time do we spend listening to podcasts?
3) What is the average age for podcast listeners?
4) How large is the podcast advertising market?
5) Does time spent with audio line up with digital ad spend?
6) What are advertisers trying to accomplish with podcast ads?
7) What share of podcast ads are dynamically inserted?
8) How many podcasts are there?

Monthly podcast listeners in U.S. (YoY growth) according to Activate Consulting:
1) 2013 – 32M
2) 2014 – 40M (↑ 25%)
3) 2015 – 46M (↑ 15%)
4) 2016 – 57M (↑ 24%)
5) 2017 – 65M (↑ 14%)
6) 2018 – 75M (↑ 15%)
7) 2019 – 88M (↑ 17%)
8) 2020 – 112M (↑ 27%)
9) 2021 – 123M (↑ 10%)
10) 2022P – 134M (↑ 9%)

Big question #3: What is the average age for podcast listeners? 

Median age by media type according to Edison Research:
1) Broadcast TV – 54
2) Radio – 48
3) Podcasts – 34

Share of the U.S. population that listens to podcasts monthly, according to Edison Research:
1) 12-34 – 55%
2) 35-54 – 51%
3) 55+ – 21%

Big question #4: How large is the podcast advertising market?

Podcast advertising (YoY growth) according to the IAB/PwC:
1) 2016 – $169M (↑ 59%)
2) 2017 – $314M (↑ 86%)
3) 2018 – $479M (↑ 53%)
4) 2019 – $708M (↑ 48%)
5) 2020 – $842M (↑ 19%)
6) 2021 – $1.4B (↑ 72%)
7) 2022 – $1.9B (↑ 28%)
8) 2023P – $2.3B (↑ 23%)
9) 2024P – $3.2B (↑ 43%)
10) 2025P – $4.0B (↑ 23%)

Big question #5: Does time spent with audio line up with digital ad spend?

Quick answer: No. Audio accounts for 20% of digital media time but only 3% of advertising dollars.

Interesting: Radio still dominates the share of ad-supported time with audio.

Big question #6: What are advertisers trying to accomplish with podcast ads?

Share of podcast advertising by objective:
1) Direct response – 52%
2) Brand awareness – 46%
3) Branded content – 2%

Big question #7: What share of podcast ads are dynamically inserted? 

Share of podcast advertising by delivery mechanism:
1) Edited-in – 51%
2) Dynamically inserted – 49%

Big question #8: How many podcasts are there?

Number of podcasts on Spotify (YoY growth):
1) 2018 – 185K
2) 2019 – 700K (↑ 278%)
3) 2020 – 2.2M (↑ 214%)
4) 2021 – 3.6M (↑ 64%)
5) 2022 – 4.0M (↑ 11%)

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