Podcast advertising in the United States - statistics & facts

Podcasts are still the cool kid in the media family. Even though podcast advertising revenues are still lower than that of established media such as pay TV or out-of-home, the industry is thriving and has successfully crossed the magic line of a billion U.S. dollars in annual ad revenue in the United States. The U.S. is the country with the highest number of podcast listeners worldwide, with an estimated 76 million people or 23 percent of the population listening to podcasts on a regular basis.

Podcast ad spending: basking in the glow of double-digit growth

Advertisers have not failed to notice the growing popularity of podcasts and are eagerly grabbing the opportunity to reach out to potential customers through yet another digital medium. Podcast ad spending in the U.S. has been enjoying double-digit growth across the years, with an upsurge of 55 percent in 2021. At the same time, the share of podcasts in digital audio services ad spending was expected to double between 2019 and 2023. Despite the advancements, podcasts still trailed behind on-air radio when it came to average ad spending per listener. Points in podcasts’ favor include their being considered a medium that is both less saturated with ads and less at risk of cookie depreciation when compared to other media. Conversely, almost half of American advertisers said trust of podcasting to deliver a return on investment (ROI) was an obstacle to buying them programmatically.

Spotify and iHeartMedia: leading players in the podcast arena

As for genres, the largest share of the U.S. podcast advertising pie was held by sports, followed by society and culture. The country’s number one podcast advertiser was mental health services portal BetterHelp, followed by Amazon. Spotify has confirmed itself as a major player in the podcasting game, showcasing an expected eight-fold rise in ad revenue between 2020 and 2024. At the same time, the podcast share of the Swedish colossus’ ad revenue increased from five to almost 20 percent. Spotify’s success notwithstanding, audio giant iHeartMedia held on to its crown of podcast king, with an ad revenue projected to overtake the half-billion-dollar mark by 2024.

Listeners and podcast ads: tuned into the same frequency?

When podcast listeners were asked how they felt about ads, a great majority expressed positive attitudes. Survey respondents described podcast ads as engaging, relevant, and memorable. Additionally, they showed an understanding of the ad-based media model, with nearly two thirds saying they would not mind a few extra ads per show. Moreover, four out of 10 listeners said they went out of their way to support brands that advertised on their favorite podcasts. If purchases are a measure of ad effectiveness podcasts do deliver: six out of 10 podcast listeners said they made a purchase from the advertiser. Millennial and Hispanic listeners were the ones who were most likely to buy a product or service because of a podcast commercial. Nevertheless, the relationship has boundaries: there is a maximum number of ads people are willing to tolerate per podcast episode, e.g. three during a 30-minute show. Americans also expressed a clear preference towards host-read ads, with little love left for pre-recorded, professional ads as known from the radio.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Michele Majidi, May 23, 2023

Key insights

Share of podcasts in marketing budgets
3.7%
Share of consumers who trust podcast ads
30%
How consumers describe podcast ads
Engaging, relevant, memorable
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