Advertisers To Spend $35 Million In Podcasts

SMI: Internet Radio Sees Huge Advertising Increase

By Radio Ink -

 

February 23, 2016

According to Standard Media Index’s latest data, U.S. advertising increased 4% in January compared to January 2015. Digital remains the shinny new toy for advertisers with spending for January up 3 points for a total of 27% of all spending. Internet Radio increased a whopping 39% over 2015. SMI saw investment in video sites increase 39% and social media sites were up 56%. Traditional radio ad volumes were lower in January and declined by 16% compared to January 2015. Television’s total market share is currently 59%, having dropped by 2 percentage points from 61% in January 2015. Broadcast TV grew by 9% and cable TV ad spend slipped by 3%.

 

That’s according to a piece in The Wall Street Journal and that’s compared to $18 Billion being spent on radio and $67 Billion in TV. While $35 Million will represent a 2% increase over last year, the article points out there are still a lot of hurdles to purchasing advertising in this new form of audio listening.

Advertisers To Spend $35 Million In Podcasts The Journal says advertising revenue growth has been limited by a range of problems. “It is difficult to measure how many people actually tune into a podcast, let alone listen to hosts promoting its sponsors. Ads in podcasts are relatively expensive, so it is tough for brands beyond direct-response advertisers to determine whether the investment pays off. And the process of buying and selling ads in podcasts is still complex and clunky.”

Performance Bridge CEO Stephen Smyk tells The Journal. “I certainly believe that it’s such a difficult and convoluted process to buy, manage and verify that [it] certainly has kept a lot of advertisers on the sideline.” Performance Bridge buys podcast ads on behalf of direct-response advertisers like glasses company Warby Parker and Harry’s razors.

And like all other forms of media, measurement is the key to grow the revenue. NPR’s Director of Audio Insights Steve Mulder tells The Journal, “It’s the Wild West in many ways for podcast measurement. If we want to unlock the full potential of podcasts, we have to ensure we have rock solid measurement that everyone agrees on and everyone can trust.”

The Journal cites some stats that point out how a small group of publishers is dominating the Podcasting landscape, at least for now. “About 700 unique programs from the top 10 podcast publishers, including NPR, This American Life/Serial and WNYC, amassed 110 million downloads in the U.S. in December, according to podcast advertising firm Podtrac. Those top 10 podcast publishers account for about 40% of all monthly podcast listeners in the U.S.”

 

Radio Reaches Key Voters In Super Tuesday States

• by Philip Rosenstein,   

Radio will have a strong impact on undecided primary voters as we move into the heart of primary season, per a Nielsen Audio study commissioned by the Katz Radio Group.

“The Local Vote 2016” study analyzed media consumption trends in the Super Tuesday states of Colorado, Texas and Virginia. (Colorado and Virginia are considered key swing states in this year's presidential election.)

 

Approximately one-third of all registered voters in those three states can still be swayed by political messaging, notes the study. These voters comprise the so-called “Opportunity Vote.”

Radio has the deepest reach in this electoral group. In Virginia, Colorado and Texas, radio reaches 93.2% of the Opportunity Vote, more than any other medium.

Texas and Virginia are states that hold strong delegate counts, making them essential for candidates to rack up enough delegates in the race to the conventions.

Broadcast TV and cable TV each impact 89.9% and 89.8% of those persuadable voters, respectively. Desktop reaches 87.8% of the Opportunity Vote and mobile 64.4%.

About one-third of the Opportunity Vote tune into radio significantly more often than they watch TV, listening to roughly two hours of radio daily compared to less than one hour of TV.

Despite strong media focus on TV ads, radio ad spend this cycle is expected to exceed $800 million.