Podcast Growth Slowed in 2022, but Ad Money Still There

The monumental growth of podcast listening slowed slightly in 2022, according to a new report published on Thursday.

The report, published by Insider Intelligence, showed podcast listening grew 5% for the year in the United States and 4.7% in the United Kingdom.

The North American market has the highest listenership of podcasts with 40.8% of the population, the report said, with that figure forecast to climb to 46.3% by 2026.

While podcast listenership growth might be leveling off, advertisers are still willing to spend to reach audiences listening to on-demand shows: According to Insider Intelligence, ad spending on podcasts climbed to $1.7 billion in 2022, up from $1.3 billion reported last year. In 2023, the figure is expected to climb to $2.2 billion, the report said.

Traditional media companies found 2022 to be a challenging year in terms of advertising revenue, but podcast products emerged relatively unscathed for the year, with marketing budgets largely unchanged during 2022, Insider Intelligence said.

Still, challenges remain for the market: Podcasts listeners tend to skew in the young adult range — the largest group of listeners consists of those between the ages of 25 and 34 — and reaching those who are younger or older can be difficult.

Some companies have tried to reach younger consumers by reaching them on other platforms: iHeartMedia, for instance, partnered with Fortnite to reach gamers with active profile there, while Spotify teamed up with Roblox for a similar initiative.

Insider Intelligence also said fraud continues to be a problem in the podcast ad market, with some media companies purchasing in-game advertisements that triggered automatic podcast downloads. Specific fraudulent campaigns were reported by Bloomberg in September.

The overall take of the report was that podcast listener is slowing in the markets with the highest percentage of the population engaged with on-demand audio, but marketers aren’t pulling back on podcast-related ad spending as a result.

To see the full Insider Intelligence report, go HERE.