Podcasting is facing a revenue crisis.

Podcasting is facing a revenue crisis.

Despite a surge in listenership, the podcast ad market has dried up. The last decade or so has been a golden age for podcasting, as shows like Serial popularized the medium and took it mainstream.

Today, 64% of Americans say they’re podcast listeners. This listening boom saw media companies pour lots of money into audio; Spotify notably invested $1B+ in podcast acquisitions and celebrity deals.

But this year, those investments have scaled back — hard.

• In March, layoffs at NPR led to the cancellation of four popular podcasts.

• In June, Spotify laid off 200 employees from its podcast division, shuttering some of its major shows.

• This month, SiriusXM will officially shut down its once-popular podcast player, Stitcher.

Where did things go wrong?

Put simply: advertisers are no longer footing the bill. The monetization model for most podcasts took power away from their listeners.

• With shows distributed for free, fans haven’t been the ones exchanging money to keep their favorite shows going — that’d be corporations and advertisers.

Now, that market is in a state of correction.

With a recession looming over the past year, advertising budgets have been among the first to go for companies looking to curb spending.

The podcast industry has watched that happen in real time this year.

The silver lining here: podcasting isn’t going anywhere — it just needs a more sustainable business model.

What this means for Streaming channel owners- Ad revenue isn’t the only way. You have to be creative with your media. Don’t just rely on ads, even though ads are great. Be creative with the ads, make them somene that people will consume, not something that people will walk away from and not listen to or watch. Weave in different ways to make money with your shows and podcasts. Have a newsletter to go with your show or podcast.

If you are confused about what to do next, book a Golden Ticket- a 1 hour paid Q and A with Dr. Wright ( me) and we can work out the best next move for you that will result in money!

Here is the link for your Golden Ticket: https://goldenticket.youcanbook.me

ACTION STEP: Re-evaluation your revenue streams, drop the ones that are not really working- don’t care how much you love them, drop them. Double down on the ones that work, unless you hate doing them. Drop stuff you hate ( stop building a business you hate). I love Golden tickets with my tribe. So I wil never completely drop them, but group coaching is a better move for me over all. I will open that up too. Eventually. LOL!

The Future. While the global linear TV ad spend is projected to reach $196 billion in 2023, its ROI is underwhelming, even for household-name brands. If companies want to leverage TV audiences to grow sales, they might borrow a tactic from the creator economy and insert affiliate codes into their TV campaigns.

An outdated model
Because media consumption habits gravitate toward streaming, people are more inclined to tune out ads when watching cable TV.

• Two-thirds of brands fail to see any meaningful impact on their TV ad spending.

• The median TV advertising elasticity is 0.1% — in other words, companies have to double their ad spend to increase sales by 1%.

A potential fix
Unlike linear TV campaigns, digital ads provide information about who clicks through and who converts. Marketers need this engagement data to see which campaigns work and which don’t and determine what resonates most with consumers.

With affiliate codes, TV advertisers could potentially gain a better understanding of their audiences and adjust campaigns without waiting for sales figures or Nielsen metrics.

Sometimes, the most innovative ideas begin as crazy ones- Streaming TV can use this too!

Warmly,

Dr. Wright