In Graphic Detail: How podcasts are earning their spot in the premium ad tier

Frequent podcast listeners remember ads more than top consumers of other media

Sounds Profitable’s data report included questions that focused on what the company calls “prime users” — the most engaged and loyal consumers who tune in to their preferred medium daily — with the goal of understanding the reach of advertisers’ messaging to both casual consumers and dedicated podcast listeners.

As it turns out, ad-supported podcasts are a particularly good way for a brand to get the word out to this type of consumer. The report found that 86 percent of daily podcast consumers said they had seen or heard an ad in a podcast within the past week — a higher level of recall than any other medium, with network and cable TV coming in second place at 82 percent.

“Ultimately, it’s a testament to the fact that podcasting, number one, is not so overrun with advertising that people skip, which is a big part of it,” said Sounds Profitable analyst Tom Webster. “And, number two, that the ads in podcasting actually stand out a little bit more, so that people register them.”

Among frequent consumers, podcasts are perceived as particularly trustworthy

Sounds Profitable found that audiences perceive podcasts as much more trustworthy than many other media channels, including mainstream ones such as X, streaming services and cable television. Forty-six percent of respondents said they trusted the overall moderation and quality control of ad-supported podcasts — which seems low until you realize that Twitch and streaming music platforms, the most-trusted channels among the ones analyzed by Sound Profitable, are trusted by only 51 percent of audience members. 

This figure is particularly meaningful to advertisers because brand safety is considered a key trait for a form of inventory to be perceived as premium. Trustworthy content is brand-safe content. 

“Unlike traditional ads or commercials, podcasters speak in a conversational tone and share parts of their real, lived experiences,” said podcaster Tara Suwinyattichaiporn. “So when they endorse a product or service, it tends to fall into the category of something they’d actually use and feels genuine.” Suwinyattichaiporn pointed out that successful podcasters typically focus on a specific niche, allowing them to attract listeners that are naturally more receptive to their ads.

Podcasting has a diverse audience

Sounds Profitable broke down audience members’ perceptions of the authenticity of podcasting and social media content by key demographic groups such as gender, age and sexuality. Across the board, the report found that consumers in all demographic groups view podcasts as more authentic and natural than social media content, with LGBTQ+ individuals and Hispanic/Latino audience members leading the charge. 

Podcast ad spend continues to grow — but at a decreasing rate

By Q3 2026, a study by the World Advertising Research Center projects that global ad spend on podcasts will exceed $1.6 billion. However, this news is a mixed bag for podcasters. The growth in brands’ podcasting ad spend has slowed over the years, with year-over-year ad investment growth in podcasts slowing from 13.2 percent in 2024 to 7.9 percent in 2025, according to the WARC report.

Reports of reduced growth in podcasting ad spend are also complicated by the significant expansion of the medium in recent years. With video podcasting on the rise, some brands are pulling directly from their influencer marketing budgets to reach podcasters’ audiences. WARC’s report, which specifically tracked brands’ audio budgets, would have missed this type of podcast ad spend.

“The rise of video podcasting, and the number of podcasts that are increasingly consumed on platforms like YouTube, are perhaps muddying some of those stats a little bit,” Webster said. “Maybe we don’t have a full handle on what the growth in podcasting is, because the definition of podcasting is expanding.”

Advertisers are opening their podcasting spend up to smaller creators

In the first quarter of 2025, roughly $4.80 out of every $10 in advertisers’ podcast spend went to shows ranked within the top 500 of popularity, according to Magellan AI’s Q1 2025 quarterly podcast ad spend report. This is a decrease from the $5.10 of each $10 in podcast ad spend that went to top-500 podcasters in the fourth quarter of 2024. Although big podcasters still soak up a lot of the attention, smaller podcasters are gaining ground in the eyes of advertisers, showing how creators of all types and sizes are jumping on the podcast opportunity in 2025.

“The ability for a podcast fan to curate content by topic, combined with the medium’s intimacy and the time listeners invest, creates a unique media environment that’s particularly beneficial to advertisers and marketers across categories,” said Scott Davis, svp of NPR corporate sponsorship at National Public Media.