News Podcasts Pull to the Top of Ad Revenue in 2018

The podcast industry brought in $479 million ad dollars last year, a 53 percent increase from 2017, a continuation of the strong, positive trend according to the latest report on the industry from PwC and IAB.

The booming industry has some fan favorites, with the top five podcast genres making up a little over 65 percent of all advertising revenue this past year. Podcasts that fall under the news, politics, and current events category took home the biggest chunk of advertising revenue in 2018. Comedy and business podcasts came in second and third, with 13.9 and 12.8 percent of revenue respectively. According to CEO of Authentic and Podtrac, the genres that attracted the most advertisers correlates closely with the areas with the largest audiences, a good indication of how content is developing.

The audio-first environment is driving the growth of podcasts and the advertising attached to the medium. The various players getting into the distribution game, most recently Spotify and Luminary, are setting the stage for even higher growth potential as consumers find more and easier ways for accessing content. Podcast audiences already show high levels of engagement and loyalty with ads, a promising sign for the growing industry.