Sounds Profitable

Here's what you need to know in the business of podcasting for August 7th. Why some publishers are reducing their podcast slate to try to grow their audio businessesMagnite And FreeWheel Link Up In The Name Of InteroperabilityAcast to focus on automation to ‘create value’ for advertisersTop 3 podcasts in U.S. remain the same over two yearsThe Media Rating Council is angling for better clarity in an era of compounding complexityAnd for the rest of the news… Digiday’s new Media Briefing presents the case for, and against, paid subscription trials. Digital subscriptions are a bright spot in otherwise down Q2 for Gannett. And, in a surprising turn after announcing their partnership with Spotify, ad group WPP cut their full-year growth forecast from 3 to 5% down to 1.5 to 3%, citing low spending from tech clients and delays in tech-related projects.

This week's stories: Audio Ads Outperform Video for Attention and Brand Recall, Dentsu Study Finds. The ad slowdown (or lack thereof) gives the industry reason to hopethe kids podcast listener report
Quick Hits: Introducing The Download by Bryan BarlettaThe Download is now a daily podcast, covering news important to the business of podcasting Monday through Thursday, with the usual weekly recap continuing on Fridays. NAVA posts info for SAG-AFTRA strike.The National Association of Voice Actors has released a one-sheet clarifying what types of work NAVA actors can or cannot do during the SAG-AFTRA strike. SiriusXM is betting big on its next-gen app by Amrita KhalidThe much-teased new SiriusXM app is set to debut this fall and was brought up during the recent Q2 earnings call.WPP & Spotify Announce First-of-its-Kind Global PartnershipBritish communications and advertising holding company WPP is now in a global strategic partnership with Spotify to give its clients access to Spotify’s ad products and scaling capabilities.

Here's what you need to know for Thursday, August 3rd.
Inside Audio Marketing - Katz: Target Consumers With Messages That Relate To Where They Listen To Radio.RainNews - Quantifying brand marketing uncertainties and risks, Veritonic says audio is paramountSpotify - WPP & Spotify Announce First-of-its-Kind Global PartnershipMediaPost - TV 'Ad Intolerant' Viewers Still In The Minority, Study Finds

Here's what you need to know for Wednesday, August 2nd. Podcast Company Realm Acquires Kid-Focused Pinna as Industry Consolidates by Ashley CarmanSiriusXM is betting big on its next-gen app by Amrita KhalidGood Karma Brands to run operations, sales for ESPN Radio by Andrew BucholtAs strikes halt Hollywood projects, the TV ad industry is on the line by Kelsey SuttonFuture of TV Briefing: How top streamers’ ad prices have trended in this year’s upfront negotiations by Tim Peterson

Bryan announces the newest evolution of The Download: a daily newsletter covering the essential news for the business of podcasting.Credits:

Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.

This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, your daily source for the essential news of the business of podcasting, brought to you by Spreaker from iHeart. Here’s what you need to know for today, Tuesday August 1st. AdAge - Audio Ads Outperform Video for Attention and Brand Recall, Dentsu Study Finds. The study was conducted by Lumen and commissioned by Dentsu, with Amazon Ads, Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Spotify, and SXM Media participating. 41% of audio ads generated correct brand recall in follow-up surveys, a 3% increase over the norm for other forms of advertising Dentsu keeps track of. Compared to digital, social, and TV benchmarks, podcasts held listeners’ attention for more seconds per thousand impressions.Inside Audio Marketing - Podcast Listeners Spending More Time With Medium As Digital Audio Usage Rises.New eMarketer graphs show daily time spent with podcasts by adult podcast listeners has increased from 44 minutes in 2021 to 51 minutes this year. eMarketer’s forecast predicts that number will grow at slower percentage rates in coming years, but will still hit 56 minutes by 2025. The overall average daily digital audio consumption is one hour and 52 minutes. LibSyn - Podcast Advertising RatesAdvertiseCast has updated their monthly tracker of podcast CPM rates. July’s average between all three tracked audience sizes is $22.24 for a 60 second spot, a 3.6% decrease from June and continuing a downward trend since May’s price of $23.50. Still, it’s holding above the lowest point from the doldrums of Q1 when February’s average hit $21.99.Digiday - Fortune cookies, the Sphere and more: How advertisers are taking OOH beyond billboardsOut of home advertising is evolving, including digital taxi toppers, ad-supported fortune cookie messages, and the $2.3 billion Sphere in Las Vegas. Some agencies have leaned into intentionally outlandish/evocative OOH campaigns to generate online buzz and have found success. Podcasting has had some success with similar OOH campaigns, including billboards for Slow Burn’s season on an abortion rights case that specifically run in states proposing abortion rights rollbacks. eMarketer - YouTube CTV spending jumped 31% last quarter, outpacing streamersAccording to agency Tinuiti, spending on YouTube’s connected TV ads jumped 31% in Q1 while services like Max and Netflix only experienced 6% growth. Hulu charts in the lead on CTV ad revenue on eMarketer’s 2023 chart with 3.63 billion, followed by YouTube at 2.89 billion and Roku at 2.19 billion. The fastest-growing CTV presence is now also the most popular location for audiences to consume podcasts.
Be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned right in your podcast listening app, or at SoundsProfitable.com, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter version.The Download is written and produced by Bryan Barletta, Gavin Gaddis, and Tom Webster. It’s assembled in Spooler and hosted on Art19. For Sounds Profitable, I’m Tom Webster - Download us again tomorrow!

Stories covered: The Fully-Produced Podcast Ad: Are we leaving attention on the table?Spotify's Q2 Earnings CallYour favorite TV rewatch podcast is here to stay - but don’t expect any new ones.
Quick Hits:
Only Be Kind by Tom WebsterThis week, Tom writes about the legacy of Frank Cody and a life philosophy he brought to radio that podcasting would do well to implement: Only be kind.NewsGuard Launches 'Made-For-Advertising' Service In Response To ANA Study by Joe MandeseTo combat the rising issue of made-for-advertising sites siphoning programmatic ads, NewsGuard has introduced the ability to create whitelists of non-MFA sites and blacklists to exclude known MFA content.Audio Amplified: Harnessing the Power of Branded PodcastsThe new white paper from Quill focuses on the utility of branded podcasts as high-value content that resonates with audiences, establishes trust, and positions creators as industry leaders.Veritonic and Acast Partner to Highlight What Success Sounds Like Around the World for Podcast Ads Bought ProgrammaticallyNew research from the two companies compares and contrasts of audio creatives from programmatic campaigns around the world.

Tom Webster reflects on the life of someone important to both him and audio in general, as well as a valuable lesson we can learn from how he thought about life. 

Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.

Stories covered: U.S. podcasters are attracting more international listenersWhy a ‘podcast election’ is unlikelyAd overexposure on CTV hurts streamers as much as brands.
Quick Hits: Will Podcast Ad Revenues Double by 2025? Not Without These Five Things by Tom Webster.Podcasts draw devoted audiences, but ad spending lags by Catherine Wolf. The Rumors of Podcasting’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated...Redux by Eric Nuzum. Why Podcast Ad Creative is Pivotal, Now More than Ever by Paul Riismandel. Cracking the Code: Gen Z Engagement through Audio Advertising by Mariam Ahmad

Tom Webster looks at our most recent study, The Podcast Opportunity, and provides five key findings that point the way towards making podcasts a more vital part of ad spending.Credits:

Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.