2024 is expected to be a banner year for advertisers as some projections show more than $10 billion will spent by political campaigns. But that money isn’t finding its way to podcasts.
According to a report from Digiday, many news podcasts haven’t seen the expected windfall come their way. Some media buyers say advertiser apprehension about being paired with “polarizing” content has actually led to a decrease in revenue.
“Historically, we have seen an uptick in brands looking to engage with news [and] political oriented content during election years. However, this is not the trend that we are seeing this year. Brand suitability and the increased polarization of the political landscape are key factors at play here,” Veritone One Vice President of Podcast Hilary Ross Shafer said.
Digiday shared that one podcast advertising agency claimed its news podcast revenue had declined 2.7% in 2024 compared to last year. Additionally, the news podcast industry has seen a year-over-year decrease in total advertisers by 6.75%.
Earlier this year, New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien shared that a decline in podcast revenue was in part responsible for why the company saw a decrease in digital advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“Our digital performance, including podcasts, was impacted by marketers avoiding some hard news topics like the Middle East conflict,” Kopit Levien said.
