Podcast ad revenue in the U.S. — after seven years of double-digit growth — hit a slowdown in 2023, with overall spending increasing 5% to $1.93 billion, according to a new report.
The tepid growth in podcast ad spending last year came amid a “challenging advertising climate” that disproportionately affected mid-tier companies, according to research conducted by PwC for the Internet Advertising Bureau. The 2023 revenue number was well off the previous forecast.
Still, there’s optimism for a bounce-back. In 2024, the U.S. podcast ad market is projected to return to double-digit growth, increasing 12% to $2.16 billion, per the PwC/IAB study. Further developments in programmatic ad buying, along with new revenue streams from video and live events, are expected to help drive growth.
In 2023, amid the spending slowdown, comedy podcasts — led by Joe Rogan, who had the No. 1 podcast on Spotify the last three years — gained market share, overtaking sports as the biggest content genre by spending. Comedy represented 17% of U.S. podcast ad revenue (up from 14% in 2022), followed by sports at 13% (down from 15% in 2022). The next biggest genres were news (12%), society and culture (11%), and true crime (6%). Holding 3% share each were TV and film; business; health and fitness; and history.
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More than a quarter of podcasting ad revenue in 2023 by industry segment was in the “other” category, such as government, nonprofit, pets and home. According to the PwC/IAB report, these smaller individual categories “are so highly targeted that they are very appealing to advertisers who need to reach a niche audience affordably.” Arts, entertainment and media was the largest single industry category measured in the report, representing 14% of total U.S. podcast ad expenditures.
The eighth annual IAB U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study, prepared by PwC, quantifies annual podcast advertising revenue and forecasts future revenue through 2026 based on an online survey of “leading podcast industry professionals.” The full report can be downloaded at this link.
