Podcast Ad Revenue To Hit $2B By 2023, Says IAB

The world of podcasting has grown exponentially over the last few years and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down any time soon.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which this week has been leading the charge with the podcast upfronts, predicts that podcast ad revenue in the U.S. will hit $2B by 2023.

The figure comes out of its U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study, prepared by PwC, showing that podcast advertising will grow as much in the next two years as it did in the past ten years.

Podcast revenue grew 19% in 2020 to hit $842M, despite the pandemic, up from $708M in 2019 and $479M in 2018. IAB predicts that ad revenues are set to exceed $1B this year and then double the following year.

These predictions will be music to the ears of Hollywood, which has been placing a big bet on podcasting with the likes of Amazon acquiring Wondery and many of the studios setting up their own podcast studios, both to launch new shows and as an IP factory for television and film.

The upfronts, which have seen new shows from the likes of Seth Rogen as well as a spinoff of Slate’s Slow Burn, continue through Thursday.

“Podcasting will grow in the next two years by leaps and bounds,” said Eric John, Vice President, IAB Media Center. “Podcast listeners have shown that—even when working from home—podcasts are a preferred medium. Advertisers are benefiting from new technologies developed to serve these marketplaces, to make podcast advertising more dynamic and measurable than ever before.”

“The big takeaway from consumer behavior pre, during, and post pandemic is that podcasting has tremendous growth ahead. Consumers love listening and will integrate it into their lives wherever it fits. Advertisers love the flexibility to adjust their messaging on the fly. And most importantly, brands are continuing to shift to podcasting simply because it works: when they run an ad, the cash register rings,” he added.

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