Despite the challenges bringing the growth of podcasting again right down to the Earth, podcast networks and promoting platforms had been optimistic in regards to the continued growth of the medium of their displays to entrepreneurs at the IAB’s annual Podcast Upfront held in New York City on Thursday.
As podcast networks and platforms introduced new reveals and measurement instruments and shared stats on how advertisements have led to lifts in model consciousness, they continued to push entrepreneurs to spend more cash within the medium, which they argue isn’t getting sufficient ad spend relative to the growth and listenership in audio.
“Today, two out of every three people have listened to a podcast. And young people in the U.S. are spending nearly as much time with podcasting as they are with linear TV,” stated Jeanine Wright, COO and gm at Wondery. “That’s why podcasts can no longer be an experimental bucket of your annual spend. They are now a must-buy for advertisers looking for premium content at scale.”
The key particulars:
- Despite the latest promoting slowdown, layoffs and cutbacks in podcasts, audio corporations and hosts targeted on the growth and reach of of the medium
- A brand new IAB examine reveals podcast ad revenue remains to be rising, however has slowed
- Upfront displays spotlighted various voices
- The buzz round AI has hit the podcast trade
- iHeartMedia touted its new branded content material studio, known as Ruby. Read Digiday’s unique story on why iHeart is doubling down on customized podcasts right here.
Paramount, which was speculated to current onstage on Thursday morning, dropped out at the final minute. A Paramount spokesperson instructed Digiday the corporate pulled out of the occasion as a result of ongoing writers’ strike, however declined to supply additional data.
IAB: podcast revenue nonetheless rising, however slower
The IAB dropped its annual report on the state of podcast promoting on Thursday, and Eric John, vp of the IAB’s Media Center, reviewed the outcomes.
The most important findings:
- U.S. podcast ad revenues grew 26% in 2022 over 2021 to $1.8 billion.
- This growth was considerably lower than the 2021 report, which confirmed a 72% year-over-year growth in podcast ad revenue, in line with the IAB’s U.S. Podcast Advertising 2022 Revenue & 2023-2025 Growth Projections examine, ready for IAB by PricewaterhouseCoopers. However, podcasting continues to be one of many quickest rising digital channels in comparison with different media (whole web ad revenue grew 11% over the identical interval), in line with the IAB.
- Typically This autumn attracts the biggest proportion of ad revenue share, however This autumn 2022 fell to 29%, the bottom degree seen within the final six years, which “reflects the overall deceleration in ad spend as the year progressed,” in line with the report.
- Podcast ad revenue is projected to greater than double between 2022-2025 to about $4 billion.
- Advertisers in advocacy, schooling and dwelling enchancment classes, amongst others, collectively drove 28% of all podcast revenues — a 250% surge since 2019, stated John.
- Sports (15%), society & tradition (14%) and comedy (14%) at the moment are the highest revenue-generating content material genres, taking the lead from information and political opinion content material. It’s the primary time since 2018 that information is not the highest revenue style.
- John stated that is doubtless as a result of return of reside, in-person sports activities and life-style occasions, and the truth that 2022 was not a serious election yr.
New and various voices
The Podcast Upfronts additionally put a highlight on the varied voices within the medium.
iHeart touted reveals that focus on sports activities, comedy, Black and LGBTQ audiences. Sony is working on a brand new podcast with Michael Harriot on the “little known stories” in Black historical past, launching on Juneteenth. The Alive Podcast Network and Futuro Media had classes dedicated to touting their potential to reach Black and Latinx audiences, respectively — with tales instructed for and by the neighborhood.
NPR highlighted new and various voices internet hosting podcasts at the legacy group, similar to Lori Lizarraga, one of many new co-hosts of “Code Switch,” a present on race and id.
In addition to name-dropping stars that host podcasts on their networks, iHeartMedia and SXM Media executives shone a lightweight on up-and-comers, too.
“Newcomers to the space that have really exploded onto the scene in the last few years [include] Chelsea Handler, Bethenny Frankel or … Jay Shetty, who just joined our network just a couple of months ago,” stated Will Pearson, president of iHeartPodcasts.
Sony has new podcast reveals hosted by actor/comedians Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jonathan Van Ness, respectively.
Podcasts’ connection to different platforms
Podcast networks and hosts mentioned the essential connection between their audio reveals and social media as channels to drive listeners to their podcasts — in addition to develop their audiences on different platforms.
When discussing how they’re constructing communities round their reveals, Heather McDonald, host of the present “Juicy Scoop,” and Kelsey McKinney, host of “Normal Gossip,” mentioned how utilizing Facebook and Instagram has helped to construct and keep direct relationships with listeners and develop engagement. McDonald stated her Facebook group counts 40,000 folks, which additionally helps when sharing merchandise from present sponsors.
Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley, hosts of the “Morbid” podcast, stated they join with listeners on Instagram via direct messages on the app, and are planning on increasing to TikTok quickly.
Podcast networks additionally talked about YouTube and the rising podcast viewers on the video platform. Wondery has practically 1,000 episodes on YouTube, stated Angie More, Wondery’s head of ad revenue.
McDonald stated feedback on her podcast episodes uploaded to YouTube assist her perceive what components of every episode audiences are responding to. Based on these feedback, she cuts clips of the episode to then be distributed on Instagram Reels and Stories.
Wondery additionally mentioned new offers with streaming TV reveals primarily based on their unique podcasts. More touted a second season of “Dr. Death” coming to NBC Universal streamer Peacock, the present “Twin Flames” getting developed right into a sequence at Hulu, and Ryan Murphy’s “American Sports Story” present that was greenlit at FX primarily based off of a podcast by Wondery and the Boston Globe known as “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.”
“Each time one of these TV shows premiere on your favorite streamer, we see a massive spike in podcast listening,” More stated.
AI in audio
Mirroring the traits of final weeks’ IAB NewFronts, AI was ceaselessly talked about in the course of the Podcast Upfronts. However, the buzzword was utilized in a largely tongue-in-cheek method, with many hosts making some extent to distinguish themselves from synthetic intelligence voices. None of the platforms went into element on how they’re utilizing AI in content material creation and promoting codecs. The lone exception was a presentation by ArtsAI and Barometer, the place the 2 executives on stage mentioned a brand new product for each programmatic and direct podcast ad consumers, providing in-flight present and episode-level monitoring of podcast ad buys throughout model suitability and contextual alignment.
Lizzie Widhelm, svp of B2B advertising and ad innovation at SXM Media, teased an upcoming AI initiative: “We’re diving really deep into making sure that we can transact for you programmatically, as well as at the show level. We’re making some really good enhancements with AI. We haven’t talked too much about it… but I think there’s a lot of opportunity with creative to grow the diversity of advertisers really small and up to big that can get involved in this space.” She didn’t elaborate additional.
The viewers may need been anticipating extra particular examples of using AI in audio, given the eye paid to it throughout all advertising and media lately. “Who has money that AI will come up in [this] conversation?” a marketer wrote within the IAB chat throughout a day Upfront presentation.
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