The broadcast and digital audio industry is poised for a transformative 2024, with experts from across the landscape weighing in with predictions. Triton Digital’s leaders see incoming changes to radio sales, podcast audience consumption, and new interactivity.
Triton Digital President and CEO John Rosso says the future of radio ad buying will rely less on traditional face-to-face selling and continue its trend toward a “digital paradigm.” This means more programmatic techniques and automation will affect the transaction and delivery of ad campaigns. “We’re already scratching the surface of this with some of our demand-side buying partners and we’ll see this accelerate in 2024,” Rosso notes.
As a digital-focused company, Triton has more to say about podcasting. Daryl Battaglia, SVP of Measurement, foresees an expansion in podcast listenership, particularly among previously underserved segments. This growth is driven by increases in monthly podcast listeners across various demographics, including older adults, lower-income households, females, and Hispanic audiences. “This will result in more content production to serve those audiences, which will drive even more growth in listeners from these segments,” Battaglia explains, pointing to a more inclusive future for podcast content.
In 2023, YouTube unexpectedly grew into podcasting’s behemoth. SVP of Podcast Strategy and Product Operations Sharon Taylor believes the platform becoming increasingly significant for both video and audio podcast consumption. “Publishers will need to build a strategy for how they incorporate video into their podcast plans,” Taylor advises.
The year was a game-changer for audio innovation, especially with the addition of numerous artificial intelligence tools for broadcasters. With audio just starting to scratch the surface of this technology, what’s next? Triton’s Chief Product Officer Benjamin Masse envisions a focus on improving audio addressability as buyer targeting expectations grow. He also anticipates a shift towards more sophisticated audio ads. “We will start seeing more interactive audio ads as part of these strategies, but the transition from passive to interactive will be gradual,” Masse comments.
The Triton team’s comments come days after adtech company AMA also predicted a significant shift in audio advertising towards dynamic and personalized content, emphasizing the need for brands to foster a respect-based relationship with consumers.
RE: SVP of Podcast Strategy and Product Operations Sharon Taylor
Very interesting article. I don’t like the idea of anything AI taking place of what people are to do in radio…..sorry. All it will do in the end is make a extremely small percentage of people super rich while placing real people in unemployment.
Anyway, with regards to Sharon Taylor, as a YouTube watcher, can anyone tell me why YouTube allows fake/phony videos indicating people ‘were taken off the air’ or ‘didn’t finish the interview as the police took them away’ bullshit. I canceled my Facebook account 8 years ago partly because of the fake ads they would show.