Westwood One Releases Fifth Annual Podcast Advertising Study

Advertiser Perceptions: Brand/Agency Podcast Advertising Consideration and Intention Soar to Record Levels

CUMULUS MEDIA’s Westwood One, America’s largest audio network, today released the results of their latest Advertiser Perceptions study in advance of next week’s Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Podcast Upfront. This year marks their fifth annual report studying brand and agency sentiment on podcast advertising.

Every year since the first IAB Upfront in 2015, Westwood One has reprised the study to track buy-side podcast advertising consideration and intention. This study evaluates the past five years and looks at the industry today.

Key takeaways:

• Since 2015, podcast advertising consideration among brands and agencies has grown 2.5X and spend intention has grown nearly 4X, according to Advertiser Perceptions.
• Two-thirds of buy-side decision makers are discussing podcast advertising and one-third are actively spending.
• Podcast advertising is pandemic proof: After a brief April dip, ad volumes and advertisers have surged back and now exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to Magellan AI.
• Brand advertising shows strong growth in podcasts: Magellan AI finds major brand advertisers are tripling down on their ad commitments.
• Podcasting’s audience share of ad-supported audio has nearly tripled since 2016, according to Edison’s “Share of Ear.”

Click here for the full report.