Podscribe: longer ads are more cost-effective

• Podscribe released its Q3 2024 performance benchmark report. Among the findings in US podcast advertising:

  • While host-read ads do work better, because they cost more, the cost-per-acquisition is actually the same as running produced spots. (And, as above, longer reads are more cost-effective).
  • Almost all advertisers only reach 25% of total monthly podcast listeners - so, there is significant potential for growth.
  • Amelia Coomber told Podnews that “audio is not a medium to be taken lightly. With all the stuff going on in the industry right now, I think (the report) is a shining light to speak to the exciting opportunity that is in front of us.”

• In the US, YouTube is the service used most often to listen to podcasts, according to Edison Research. 31% of weekly podcast listeners aged 13+ choose YouTube as the service they use most to listen to podcasts; Spotify is at 27%, and Apple Podcasts is at 15%, says the data.

• Attribution and analysis company Magellan AI has successfully joined the list of companies compliant with IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines v2.2.

  • A number of companies have not recertified since 2021, although the IAB Tech Lab tells us that annual recertification remains a requirement. However, “a few companies” will be removed by the end of the year after choosing not to recertify, the company says, but wouldn’t confirm who.

• BBC Studios are to use Triton Digital for audio advertising and analytics tools for podcasts outside the UK, making the broadcaster’s podcasts available to over fifty ad exchanges on Triton’s global Audio Marketplace. The BBC continues to work with Acast, who are “excited to continue working together to grow the podcast market globally”.

• Meanwhile, The Guardian has renewed its global podcast contract with Acast. The two companies have worked together since 2017.

• There have been a number of job cuts at Canada’s Rogers Sports & Media. Among wider cuts throughout the company, casualties include Jordan Heath-Rawlings - host and EP of The Big Story - alongside Mary Jubran, an Editor and Audience Development specialist, and producers Robyn Simon and Joseph Fish. Earlier this year, Rogers closed Pacific Content; the company’s strategy appears to be a focus on a shrinking radio business.

• Scott Galloway: “The Prof G podcast portfolio (Prof G, Prof G Markets, Raging Moderates) will register 2025 revenue of approximately $10m. We employ five producers, two analysts, and a technical director/sound engineer. I spend 8-12 hours (total) per week on the pod(casts)”.

• Spotify’s video strategy is critically examined by DWNLOAD Media’s Chris Peterson. “This strategy feels completely one-sided — focused on growing Spotify’s Premium product rather than growing the podcast industry,” he says.

• Like YouTube, Spotify is now displaying auto-generated wide, 14x9, thumbnails for video podcasts for some users.

• Tomorrow is the last day to submit your entry to The Ambies. The ceremony is in Chicago on Mar 31.

• Submissions are open for the fourth edition of the Ondas Podcast Awards. The awards for the Spanish-language sector are divided into three categories: general, specific and special.

• Popular iOS podcast app Overcast has received an update that adds listening stats and 48-hour listening history. The app has also received a price increase - Overcast Premium is up from $9.99 to $14.99 a year. (You absolutely don’t need Premium to use the app, but supporting developers is always a good idea).

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Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Product management is hard (whether it’s your podcast or your website), especially when it comes to making choices about what you’re building or doing. Milly Botes, Acast’s VP of Product, suggests that you apply the same principles that you would apply to investment - diversification, rebalancing, and risk management.

Podcast News

The Podglomerate has shared predictions for podcasting in 2025 sourced from eighteen industry leaders in its popular Podcast Perspectives show.

From Puma, Green Flags launches today - hosted by Manchester United captain and Lioness, Maya Le Tissier, fashion and lifestyle Guru, Oli Bromfield and pro-footballer turned content creator, Moses Duckrell, it’s a five-part video podcast to showcase how even small changes can make a big difference in reducing our environmental footprint. It’s made by Mags Creative.

Veteran radio DJ David Hamilton has launched a new podcast aimed at over 65 year-olds. Wise Words talks about maintaining friendships, cooking traditions, learning in later life and navigating modern technology. The podcast was launched following research that revealed the average over-65 spends less than an hour a day talking to other people.