[email protected] | 800-579-3031
Media Partners Worldwide

Category: Podcasting

Category: Podcasting

Elevating Your Podcast Advertising Strategy with Precision: The Power of Attribution

Posted on by

For Direct Response advertisers and brands, the quest for innovative means to connect with target audiences while meticulously measuring campaign effectiveness is an ongoing pursuit. In recent years, one avenue has emerged as a potent force – podcast advertising. With over 104 million Americans tuning into podcasts monthly, this medium offers an exceptional opportunity to engage a highly attentive audience. However, a pivotal question remains: How can you precisely measure the success of your podcast advertising endeavors? The answer lies in attribution.

Attribution, in the realm of podcast advertising, is the linchpin for tracking and evaluating the efficacy of your advertisements. It empowers you to discern which specific ads drive conversions, enabling you to fine-tune your campaigns for optimal return on investment (ROI). Here’s how you can skillfully employ attribution to elevate your podcast advertising strategy:

  • Illuminating Listener Behavior: Attribution provides a comprehensive lens through which you can observe listener behavior intricately. It unveils crucial insights, including when listeners encounter your ad, the duration of their engagement, and post-ad interactions. This wealth of data paints a vivid portrait of your audience’s preferences, enabling you to tailor your ads for maximum resonance.
  • Conversions in Focus: A fundamental advantage of attribution is its precision in monitoring conversions. By deploying unique promo codes or dedicated landing pages, you can meticulously track the number of listeners converting after hearing your ad. This invaluable data helps identify the most effective podcasts or ad formats, enabling you to allocate your budget judiciously.
  • Real-Time Campaign Optimization: Attribution data isn’t static; it fuels real-time campaign optimization. Armed with a deep understanding of which ads trigger conversions, you can adapt your strategy to emphasize the most effective tactics. This agile approach can yield elevated conversion rates and a superior ROI.
  • Validating ROI: Ultimately, attribution serves as the irrefutable proof of your podcast advertising ROI. By showcasing the conversions your ads drive, you can demonstrate the tangible value of podcast advertising to potential clients and stakeholders.

Nevertheless, it’s imperative to acknowledge that podcast attribution presents its share of challenges. Due to the medium’s unique nature, tracking can be less precise compared to other digital advertising avenues. Listeners might skip ads, employ diverse devices for listening, or take action well after hearing an ad – all variables that introduce complexity into attribution.

In spite of these challenges, attribution in podcast advertising remains a treasure trove of insights to optimize campaigns and affirm the medium’s value. By comprehending and harnessing attribution, you can maximize the potential of your podcast advertising endeavors, delivering results that resonate with potential customers.

In summary, when combined with effective attribution, podcast advertising becomes a potent asset in your marketing arsenal. It empowers you to reach an engaged audience, measure campaign effectiveness, and refine your strategy for peak ROI. So, if you’re looking to educate potential clients about the merits of podcast advertising, commence by unlocking the potential of attribution.

Exploring Attribution Tools for Podcast Advertising Excellence

A plethora of tools and programs cater to attribution in podcast advertising. Here are a few distinguished options:

  • Podsights: This widely acclaimed podcast attribution platform delves deep into understanding the impact of podcast ads. It employs a blend of direct response tracking and lift analysis to offer insights into listener interactions with ads.
  • Chartable: Chartable extends podcast attribution services that monitor listener behavior across various platforms. It employs unique device identifiers to track when listeners download a podcast post-ad exposure.
  • Claritas: A marketing firm, Claritas, presents a podcast attribution solution powered by device graphing and identity resolution. It meticulously tracks the effectiveness of podcast ads.
  • Barometric: Barometric offers a comprehensive ad tracking and attribution solution applicable to podcast advertising. It utilizes IP address matching and device ID matching to trace listener behavior.

Other notable players in this arena include Podscribe and ArtsAi.
These attribution tools furnish invaluable insights into listener behavior, enabling advertisers to pinpoint which ads yield results and where their advertising efforts should be concentrated. If you’re keen to delve deeper into launching a podcasting campaign, reach out to us at [email protected]. At Media Partners Worldwide, we’ve been at the forefront of direct response audio for over 26 years – your trusted ally in navigating the evolving landscape of media and marketing.

Podcast Advertising: Tapping into the Audio Revolution

Posted on by

In a world where digital content consumption is on the rise, podcasts have emerged as a dynamic and engaging platform, revolutionizing the way we consume information and entertainment. Alongside this audio revolution, a new avenue for advertising has emerged – podcast advertising. This blog post explores the power and potential of podcast advertising, shedding light on its benefits, strategies, and impact on the advertising landscape.

The Rise of Podcasts: A Sonic Renaissance

Podcasts have transcended from niche entertainment to mainstream media, captivating audiences with their diverse content and accessible nature. From true crime to self-improvement, comedy to business insights, podcasts cater to virtually every interest, creating an engaged and loyal listenership.

Why Podcast Advertising Matters

  1. Engaged Audience: Podcast listeners are highly engaged, often listening during commutes, workouts, or downtime. This captive audience presents a unique opportunity for advertisers to reach people in moments when they are actively consuming content.
  2. Intimacy and Trust: Host-read ads in podcasts create a sense of intimacy and authenticity. Listeners trust the hosts and consider their recommendations, making podcast ads more credible and impactful.
  3. Less Ad Fatigue: Unlike other forms of advertising, podcast ads are less intrusive. Listeners are more receptive to ads within their chosen content, resulting in lower ad fatigue.

Strategies for Effective Podcast Advertising

  1. Know Your Audience: Understand the demographic and interests of the podcast’s audience. Target podcasts that align with your brand’s values and resonate with your target market.
  2. Create Engaging Content: Craft compelling ad scripts that blend seamlessly with the podcast’s style. Host-read ads, with a touch of personalization, enhance engagement.
  3. Call to Action: Include a clear call to action in your ad. Whether it’s visiting a website, using a discount code, or subscribing to your newsletter, guide listeners on the next steps.

Types of Podcast Ads

  1. Pre-Roll Ads: Played at the beginning of an episode, pre-roll ads capture listeners’ attention while their focus is high.
  2. Mid-Roll Ads: Placed in the middle of an episode, mid-roll ads maintain momentum while keeping listeners engaged.
  3. Endorsements: Host endorsements carry authenticity and trust. They share personal experiences with the product or service.

Measuring Podcast Ad Success

  1. Tracking Unique URLs: Providing a unique URL in the ad enables tracking of conversions originating from the podcast.
  2. Promo Codes: Exclusive promo codes for podcast listeners allow precise tracking of conversions.
  3. Surveys and Feedback: Encourage listeners to provide feedback through surveys to gauge ad effectiveness.

The Future of Podcast Advertising

As the audio landscape continues to evolve, podcast advertising is poised for exponential growth. Advertisers are exploring dynamic ad insertion, which tailors ads based on listener preferences. As podcasts become more interactive, expect opportunities for more engaging ad formats.

In conclusion, podcast advertising offers a compelling and effective way for brands to connect with an engaged audience. By understanding the unique dynamics of podcast content and tailoring ads to suit the platform, advertisers can tap into the audio revolution and make a lasting impact in the world of digital marketing.

Is Your Target Audience Feeling Tech-Fatigue?

Posted on by

All great things come to an end. Even the hyper-connected tech savvy consumer will eventually get tired of being on their phone constantly. A recent study from iHeartRadio sheds light on media consumption trends.

The results highlight the effects of “tech-fatigue”. This refers to consumers scaling back phone usage. This means less opportunities to reach your audience.

1. Digital Detox 

The digital detox trend, coupled with data privacy and malware fears has made the mobile advertiser’s life difficult. 64% of participants in the study reduced their daily phone usage from 5 hours to 4 hours in the span of 14 months. That is a 20% drop in phone usage.

2. Broadcast Radio is Unaffected by Digital Detox 

The listening rates for AM/FM radio have remained constant over the past 5 years. 90% of listeners have listened to the radio at the same consumption level, if not more.

3. Broadcast Radio Gets More Time Than Social Media

This one may be a bit hard to believe, but that doesn’t make it any less true. The average daily time spent per adult (18+) in the U.S. on radio is 102 minutes and 51 minutes on social media. Radio gets twice as much engagement time than social media.

The moral of the story is to prevent your campaign from being hurt by trends such as tech fatigue. Having radio in your marketing mix ensures reach, scale, and reliability.

Call us today for great deals on radio spots! 562-439-3900

Three Tips to Optimize Audio Ads

Posted on by

When advertisers are preparing a new spot for an audio advertisement, a lot of time is spent on deciding how long the spot should be. Westwood One wanted to see if spending a significant amount of time on deciding spot length had a strong enough impact to justify the time spent on this otherwise simple decision. What they found was that longer ads do perform better, but they do not always lead to a significant difference in creative scores.

Now that advertisement length is known to not drive a significant impact on the performance of the spot, attention can be turned to finding other ways to optimize audio advertisement performance. Three best practices were identified.

1. Less messages leads to better recall!

Millward Brown, a global leader in brand strategy consulting, advertising development and optimization, media effectiveness, and brand equity research, reports that more messages in an ad leads to a lower likelihood of a single message being recalled. Powerful numbers are provided to prove this point. The first message of an ad with four total messages only has a 43% recall rate compared to an ad with a single message.

This makes sense once you think about it. Cramming a bunch of messages into an ad makes it harder to remember anything that was in the ad. A 15 second ad with one message will likely perform far better than a 30 second ad with three messages.

Instead of taking a 30 or 60 second ad as an opportunity to say everything you can about the brand, take that time to communicate one central idea in an entertaining & memorable way. Think about Snickers’ advertisements. “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” One central idea that is communicated in a consistently entertaining & attention grabbing way. Time is not wasted talking about taste, size, packaging, price, or the myriad of messages they could communicate. Instead, the message is just to eat a Snickers when you’re hungry. Now that’s memorable.

2. Prioritize brand building, not sales activation 

The Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, Les Binet, and Peter Field, a Marketing Consultant, studied the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) database of case studies to prove this point. They explain that sales activation campaigns focus on customers who are likely to buy in the very near future which is accomplished by leveraging existing brand equity to drive sales.

They make the analogy that sales campaigns are like carbs; they produce a sugar rush-like  short term sales boost followed by a crash. Sales campaigns are easy to measure because results tend to be immediate and direct.

Similarly, branding campaigns are compared to protein; a sustainable and long lasting source of energy. Brand building is more difficult and requires greater investment, however, it is critical. This involves the process of creating mental associations and beliefs that ultimately leads to the preference of one brand compared to the next. To build a brand, mass media like television and radio are necessary. This is because the objective is to communicate to everyone in the category, not just people in the market right now.

The difference compared to sales campaigns is that brand building sales effects grow and compound, becoming a main driver of long term growth. The ideal mix of sales and branding campaigns should be 60% branding and 40% sales. This makes sense because that means more brand equity is being built than being spent on sales activation.

3. Focus Creative on Emotional Claims Instead of Rational

This may sound backwards, but let’s stop and think about it. Becoming top of mind for consumers is an issue of reach. Creating brand likability and understanding is the product of good advertising. Does this sound like a feat that is accomplished through dumping facts or telling a captivating story that touches the heart?

The Binet & Field analysis reveals that emotional branding performs more strongly across all metrics, including: awareness, commitment, trust, differentiation, fame, and image. Emotional advertising and storytelling creates bonds and associations more efficiently than throwing a bunch of facts about the brand or product at the audience. Naturally, these efficiencies translate to an increase in the bottom line. Creating emotional bonds with the target market yields higher long-term sales, share, pricing power, and loyalty.

To sum up, it’s not the spot length that matters. Focus on the number of messages, branding and sales mix, and emotional claims in your audio creative.

Give us a call 562-439-3900 so that we can create high quality audio creative for you and get you great deals on media placement!

9 Reasons to Include Podcasts in your Marketing Budget

Posted on by

1) It’s Targetable
Podcasts give advertisers the luxury of nailing down their target audience. Podcasters have the freedom to talk about any topic. From “new moms”, “wine and good food”, “health hacks”, “fancy cars” to “wilderness survival tactics”, you can find a plethora of podcasts that will reach your perfect customer.

2) Podcasts Provide a Word of Mouth Platform
When a listener’s favorite host reads the commercial, it’s just like a friend telling them to try your product. Listeners trust the host and value their opinion. Also, many podcasters will provide added value and include your product on their website or mention you in their trusted blogs.

3) Time 
Podcasters typically are not restricted by time and when segments need to start and end. They can be as long or short as it takes. Because of this, you can get improved and nontime restricted content.

4) Podcast Listeners don’t Skip your Ads
Podcast followers are less likely to skip your ad because they are loyal and attentive to the show. Ads are typically read in the beginning, middle and sometimes end of the show. Listeners want to hear the show and often the ads are integrated in such a way that they sound like they are part of the content.

5) The “Untouchables” are Listening
Those 18-34 cord cutters and ad blockers are listening to podcasts now more than ever. The research shows that they actually listen to the ad, too.

6) You can Better Measure your ROI
The most popular way to track success are through unique checkout codes, vanity URL’s offered in the ad or a drop-down menu with a selection of sources from which they “heard the ad”. While not flawless, they offer a few easy ways to gauge how your podcasts are performing on each specific show.

7) Your Commercial is Evergreen
Most podcasts embed your commercial in their podcasts and it will be heard anytime a listener downloads the specific show you were in. Some loyal listeners listen each week to their show, but many download and save the show to listen in the future. Listeners continue to hear your commercial weeks, months and even years after your paid run. That can mean free impressions and increased results long after your schedule has ended.

8) Over 80% of Listeners can Recall your Brand
Midroll did a recall study and found that listeners:
* 80% could recall at least one advertiser in each episode
* 67% could recall a specific offer or promo
* 51% were more likely to buy the featured brand in the show

9) You can Easily Test Different Offers
Because hosts record their shows typically on a weekly basis, you can change your offer as needed each week. It’s a great platform to test new offerings and new promotions without “production” costs, if the hosts are reading your commercial in the show.

If you are ready to include podcasts in your plan this year, here’s what you should consider:
* You should plan on testing with at least $10k a month.
* Be prepared to pay cpm’s of $15 to $20 per commercial.
* You need to be open to testing different podcasts that reach your target audience.
* We suggest giving each show a minimum of 4 weeks.
* Be ready to send out your product to the host so they can try it and get familiar with it before they read your spot.
* Some hosts will be more effective at endorsing your product than others.
Bottom line, podcasts are working and brands like Audible and Blue Apron are just a few of the advertisers who have jumped on board and are realizing the great potential of podcasts. Isn’t it time that you got into the mix?
Our seasoned team at Media Partners Worldwide can help you get started.
Reach out to us at 800-579-3031 or email me at [email protected].

Infinite Dial 2016 – Study On Digital, Mobile Growth

Posted on by

By David Alpern The annual Infinite Dial study was recently released. It examined the expanding proliferation of smartphones and digital Infinite Dialaudio services, such as listening to online radio and podcasts. The research found that half of the audience now listens to some sort of online radio each week, up from 44% last year. Here are some highlights of how content delivery is evolving:

  • 57% of Americans use online radio each month
  • Podcast listening is growing on a monthly basis (17% to 21%) and weekly (10% last year to 13% this year). Weekly podcast listeners listen to an average of five podcasts per week
  • In-home ownership of a radio receiver has dropped. 79% have a radio at home. Eight years ago it was 96% = nearly every home in America. Among 18-34-year-olds, radio ownership in the home is down from 94% to 68%
  • Pandora remains the best-known online audio brand with 82% awareness. Apple Music which invested heavily to relaunch a year ago is second (67%). iHeartRadio, the largest broadcaster in the country is close to Apple (65%). Spotify has strong brand presence (52%)
  • Music streaming among the 12-24 demo finds that 43% listened to Pandora within the past month and 30% listened to Spotify
  • Spotify gained as the “Audio Brand Used Most Often,” up from 10% to 14%. Pandora leads everyone with 48%
  • Broadcast radio is tied for the lead among all audio sources for keeping up-to-date with new music – ahead of YouTube. However, among 12-24s, broadcast radio falls to third (58%), behind YouTube (86%) and friends/family (74%)
  • Smartphone ownership continues to grow, reaching 76%, up five percentage points since last year. Among 12-24-year-olds, smartphone ownership rose to 93%. Even seniors are getting “smart” with more than half now using a smartphone – up 45 to 51%
  • On demand video-subscriptions are at 51% of the country. The largest is Netflix. 43% of all survey respondents subscribe to Netflix
  • Facebook remains the most-used social media platform (64%). Among 12-24s Snapchat (72%) and Instagram (66%) lead the social media pack
Media consumption is dramatically changing. Mobile is increasingly being utilized as a “first screen” after several years of having established itself as the “second screen” supplement to traditional HDTV set viewing. Podcasts and on-demand video services are allowing for binge watching and listening, and their anticipated future growth will continue to impact and change the media landscape. Expect to see online radio continue to increase its audience reach and join smartphones and social media as broad mainstream activities.]]>

Google steps up to podcasting…

Posted on by

                                                    MPW Logo_Cropped GoogleMThe Download on Podcasts: Google steps up to podcasting, but not enough Posted on October 28, 2015 by Brad Hill   The announcement from Google that it would add podcasts to its Play Music interactive music service shines a light into the gloomy and under-competitive realm of podcast discovery in Android devices. But it’s a relatively dim ray of light compared to the bold discovery paths that Apple provides to its audio users. Most podcast listening is mobile. Most podcast discovery, downloading, and streaming occurs via the podcast category in iTunes, which is carved out in the Podcasts app which appears on all iOS mobile desktops. Apple’s gigantic first-mover advantage with podcasts has widened its lead in the mobile era. This column has complained before of Android’s gaping lack in this department. Android is, by far, the global leading mobile operating system, and offers no built-in acknowledgment or discovery of podcasts. Existing third-part apps like Pocket Casts and Podcast Addict provide solutions, but users must seek them out, download and install them — in other words, they are already podcast fans with some fluency in how discovery and acquisition work. While the podcast category has grown dramatically, with 33% of the 12+ U.S. population having listened to a podcast at least once, and 10% listening weekly, according to Edison Research, consumption is dramatically skewed to Apple products. Back to Google’s announcement, posted by Elias Roman, who headed Songza when it was acquired by Google, and now is Product Manager of Google Play Music. Adding podcasts to Google’s music subscription product is a smart move, roughly in parallel with Deezer’s acquisition of Stitcher, Spotify’s intent to add podcasts, and Rivet Radio’s recently announced build-out of podcast shows. Elias Roman’s unique selling point is that Google Play Music will leverage (Songza’s) content discovery algorithms to recommend podcasts based on user habits. This is all good for Google Play Music subscribers, but is not the solution that the immense population of Android users needs. The competitive thrust is aimed at other music services, not at Apple. It is the Android operating system which needs a podcast solution, not a Google app within the operating system. So, while we’re eager to see how Google Play Music’s podcast library develops (and happily, loading in a podcast is much easier for podcast owners compared to Apple’s daunting set of requirements), we’re doubling down on our memo to Google: Make a podcast portal, and bolt it into Android. Help bring podcasts into the mainstream.]]>

Pandora gets exclusive streaming distribution for Serial's 2nd season

Posted on by

MPW Logo_Cropped     Pandora gets exclusive streaming distribution for Serial’s second season Posted on November 2, 2015 by Brad Hill Pandora announced today that it will be the “exclusive streaming partner” for the second season of hit podcast Serial. In 2016 the agreement will extend to This American Life, the public radio program which distributes its shows as on-demand podcasts, and which is the creator of Serial. This initiative is a new programming dimension for Pandora, and a potential source of new audience for Serial. “Pandora reaches millions of people who never listen to public radio or download podcasts,” said Ira Glass, host of This American Life. “This’ll get our shows to them.” Because long-form narrative podcasting is so different from the normal song library of Pandora tracks, the service will carve each Serial episode into five-minute bites. Pandora calls this “chapterized” content, and promises it will make it easier to listen in portions, and return to a previous leave-off point. The chapters will play continuously for those who want whole episodes. The launch date for the second season of Serial is undisclosed in this announcement. Season One will likewise be poured into Pandora on November 24, for binge listening over the Thanksgiving holiday. Serial will still be downloadable from iTunes and other podcast aggregators, while Pandora enjoys the exclusive pure-streaming rights. Without question, the partnership has unique value for all stakeholders. Pandora jumps on the podcast train. Serial gets exposed to an audience of 78-million monthly users, some of whom have probably heard of Serial but have never figured out how listen to a podcast. And those users get the benefit of easy discovery and playback in an environment they know and love. Interestingly, this agreement also gives Pandora a block of interactive content that can be accessed and heard on demand, unlike its entire non-interactive music library. Users just add the “Serial” station, and can listen to as much as they want. When users create station based on a music brand, the first track is usually that artist or brand, and then the Music Genome kicks in with a playlist of which the user has limited control. Spoken-word podcasting is free of music licensing restrictions, and can be thoroughly interactive and on-demand.]]>

Pandora gets exclusive streaming distribution for Serial’s 2nd season

Posted on by

MPW Logo_Cropped     Pandora gets exclusive streaming distribution for Serial’s second season Posted on November 2, 2015 by Brad Hill Pandora announced today that it will be the “exclusive streaming partner” for the second season of hit podcast Serial. In 2016 the agreement will extend to This American Life, the public radio program which distributes its shows as on-demand podcasts, and which is the creator of Serial. This initiative is a new programming dimension for Pandora, and a potential source of new audience for Serial. “Pandora reaches millions of people who never listen to public radio or download podcasts,” said Ira Glass, host of This American Life. “This’ll get our shows to them.” Because long-form narrative podcasting is so different from the normal song library of Pandora tracks, the service will carve each Serial episode into five-minute bites. Pandora calls this “chapterized” content, and promises it will make it easier to listen in portions, and return to a previous leave-off point. The chapters will play continuously for those who want whole episodes. The launch date for the second season of Serial is undisclosed in this announcement. Season One will likewise be poured into Pandora on November 24, for binge listening over the Thanksgiving holiday. Serial will still be downloadable from iTunes and other podcast aggregators, while Pandora enjoys the exclusive pure-streaming rights. Without question, the partnership has unique value for all stakeholders. Pandora jumps on the podcast train. Serial gets exposed to an audience of 78-million monthly users, some of whom have probably heard of Serial but have never figured out how listen to a podcast. And those users get the benefit of easy discovery and playback in an environment they know and love. Interestingly, this agreement also gives Pandora a block of interactive content that can be accessed and heard on demand, unlike its entire non-interactive music library. Users just add the “Serial” station, and can listen to as much as they want. When users create station based on a music brand, the first track is usually that artist or brand, and then the Music Genome kicks in with a playlist of which the user has limited control. Spoken-word podcasting is free of music licensing restrictions, and can be thoroughly interactive and on-demand.]]>

Infinite Dial Learnings

Posted on by

By David Alpern Earlier this year we posted about the Infinite Dial study about audio consumption, with the conclusion that streaming is goiThe Infinite Dialng wide, YouTube is mainstream, and podcasting is growing. Below is an article by Brad Hill, published earlier this year, that details the study. The 2015 edition of The Infinite Dial was unveiled in March 2015 by survey producers Edison Research and Triton Digital. In its 23rd edition, The Infinite Dial is one of the most significant and respected research projects in the streaming audio industry. A major headline came when John Rosso of Triton said that 53% of American adults listen to online radio at least monthly — an estimated 143-million individuals. (“One of the most significant findings of this year’s study,” said Rosso.) Holding to demographic tendencies of previous Infinite Dial editions, uptake of streaming radio is weighted to youth. The 12-24 demographic shows 77% listening to online radio each month. Weekly online radio listening continues its upward march in the 2015 results — 44% of Americans listen at least weekly. That is an estimated 119-million people. In the 2000 survey, two percent of Americans made the same claim. (There has not been a year-over-year decrease during that span.) Weekly listening also skews young, with 69% of the 12-24 group listening weekly. How about time spent? Edison found that the average weekly time spent listening to online radio was 12 hours and 53 minutes — a slight drop from last year (13:19). but with a large year-over-year jump in audience size (from 36% of Americans to 44%), the overall time spent with online radio is much higher. Where does the listening happen? Mobile dominates, and is growing — 73% use smartphones, increased from 66% last year. Computers are still in frequent use, but declining from 64% in 2014 to 61% this year. The presentation provided deep dives into several research topics:

  • Brands:Pandora is the best-known brand in the Internet audio business, followed by YouTube. Pandora, iTunes Radio, and Spotify all enjoyed substantial listening growth from last year’s survey. YouTube is used for music by 63% of the total population, and 90% of the 12-24 cohort.
  • Discovery:The Infinite Dial tracks music-discovery methods. The top resource in this year’s data is the Friends/Family response (70%), followed closely by AM/FM Radio (69%). YouTube is next at 61%.
  • Podcasting:The podcasting segment of today’s presentation showed overall listening at 33% of the population, or approximately 89-million people. Podcast listeners are characterized by the data as voracious, listening to an average six shows per week, and 15% listening to 11 or more shows each week. Interestingly, the podcast audience skews affluent (52% of listeners are in $100k+ households), a data point that all ad-repping networks will probably include in their sales decks.
  • Smartphone ownership:Jason Calacanis told last year’s RAIN Summit West audience: “Mobile is the only thing that matters.” Edison tells us that 71% of 12+ Americans own a smartphone.
  • Cars listening:In the car, as other studies have shown, AM/FM is the most-used audio source (81%). CD players and MP3 players fare well in this survey, and online radio comes in at 21% — higher than the 17% listenership to satellite radio. In-car online radio listening is the fastest-growing audio source by far, leaping 50% between last year’s survey and this one (from 14% to 21%).
Key takeaways provided by Edison and Triton:
  • Online audio is now a fully mainstream activity for people under 55.
  • AM/FM Radio continues to dominate in-car, but is losing its music discovery leadership.
  • Pandora remains the dominant online audio brand, though Spotify has grown, especially on the young end.
  • YouTube as a music channel is as mainstream as all of online audio put together.
  • Online radio in the car is growing—more than doubled in two years.
  • The Smartphone continues to drive online audio, and most users don’t care about data consumption.
  • Podcasting is increasingly mainstream, and carving out a segment of highly attractive advertising targets.
The Infinite Dial survey was in the field in January and February, questioning a sample of 2,002 people on landline and cell phones.]]>