Nielsen and Edison Research have unveiled a strategic partnership aimed at streamlining how advertisers plan and compare cross-platform media campaigns.
The companies will launch Nielsen Podcast Fusion powered by Edison Research, a tool that integrates podcast consumption data with Nielsen Media Impact.
The platform will enable advertising agencies and marketers to evaluate podcasts alongside traditional channels like TV, radio, digital, and social media.
By unifying podcast metrics with Nielsen Media Impact’s proprietary planning tools, the offering gives marketers a complete view of audience behavior across media.
“We know that young people are consuming podcasts as a huge part of their media diet,” said Nielsen Audio Managing Director Rich Tunkel. “Nielsen continues to be at the forefront of media measurement so that advertisers can create their plans with confidence. This new collaboration further extends that confidence to audio and podcasts.”
The move addresses a longstanding challenge in media planning: integrating emerging formats like podcasts into broader cross-media campaign strategies.
“Nielsen Media Impact is a critical tool for cross-platform media planning, and we are excited to bring our best-in-class podcast measurement data to this ecosystem,” added Edison Research Senior Vice President Melissa Kiesche. “Our strategic partnership will help advertisers better understand the power of podcasting and its role in the broader media landscape.”
NPR and Ocean Media are already listed as early adopters.
“Integrating podcast data with Nielsen Media Impact marks a pivotal step in how the industry approaches cross-media planning,” said NPR Audience Insights Director Susan Leland. “With podcasts now a key player in the advertising ecosystem, this collaboration will empower advertisers to harness detailed insights and optimize their campaigns effectively across all major media types.”
“For our clients, seamless podcast planning alongside other audio and video channels is vital,” added Ocean Media Associate Director of Planning & Insights Marcela Wilfong. “The integration of podcast metrics into NMI makes this a reality, allowing us to evaluate and develop more intelligent, cross-platform media strategies for our brands. We see this as a pivotal advancement.”
Nielsen said subscribers will be able to filter by podcast networks and genres to refine their media plans more effectively. The company added that advertisers must have “sophisticated tools and data to effectively plan” across all formats in today’s fragmented media landscape.
In the findings from The Podcast Consumer 2025, data from Edison Research shows that overall time spent listening to podcasts has grown a whopping 355% since 2015.
The addition of podcast metrics from Edison Research comes on the heels of news that podcast listening has increased dramatically in the last decade.
In 2015, the company shared that roughly 170 million hours per week were spent listening to podcasts. That figure grew to 770 million hours per week, or an increase of 603 million hours per week over the past decade. Only 46 million users labeled themselves as monthly podcast consumers in 2015. In 2025, that number has increased to 115 million.
Furthermore, in 2015, only 27 million Americans called themselves weekly podcast consumers. In 2025, that figure has risen to 115 million, according to Edison Research.
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