Hearts pound, spines tingle, laughter bubbles––then you click the pause button, reenter real life and face the buzz of the dryer, a voice saying “your total is…” or an approaching neighbor waving hello.
Fans of comedy, news and true-crime podcasts like Your Mom’s House, Pod Save America and CounterClock aren’t just engaged with the shows; they’re enthralled. In fact, comedy, news and true crime are the top podcast genres, racking up 75 million listens in May, 2022 alone. They attract huge and ravenous fanbases that represent many of the segments and personas advertisers desire: affluent parents, high-earning adults, household decision makers and the like.
So why are advertisers missing this opportunity?
It often comes down to brand safety concerns. Many brands are hesitant to run ads alongside possibly unsavory or unpredictable content, and they broadly put comedy, news and true crime into that category. But that concern is unfounded. Podcasts are opt-in, and audiences have searched for and chosen to download these shows. If advertisers want to reach audiences, they have to go where the content is taking them.
The specter of brand safety
Across genres, major publishers ensure that podcast advertising is brand safe. In compliance with industry standards, publishers generally adhere to a brand safety floor, eliminating illegal, explicit and obscene content, ensuring brand messages never play along damaging or harmful content.
The brand suitability conversation should balance what’s suitable for the advertiser with what its target audience deems suitable for its ears.
Brand suitability is a better term for advertiser concerns, with a focus on the shows and genres that are suitable for their ads. For example, the SXM Podcast Network meets these concerns by segmenting content. On the network, level-one content is suitable for young children, level two is appropriate for most people and level three is appropriate for most adults. Squeamish advertisers may think sticking to more restrictive suitability measures is the safest option, but it can limit and even eliminate the most popular podcast content, leaving valuable audiences out of earshot.
The brand suitability conversation should balance what’s suitable for the advertiser with what its target audience deems suitable for its ears.
Scary-good podcast audiences
The podcast audience is massive. Per Edison Research’s Infinite Dial report for 2022, 109 million people listen to at least one podcast every month, and 177 million—more than six in ten Americans—have listened to at least one podcast in their lifetime. And comedy, news and true-crime listeners make up a large part of the audience, according to Nielsen.
- 43% of podcast listeners 18-plus listen to comedy podcasts, making it the number-one genre across almost every major demographic.
- 38% of podcast listeners tune in to their favorite news podcasts, making it the second most popular category.
- 41% of women 25-54 listen to true crime, making up 63% of the genre’s listenership.
News, true crime and comedy listeners aren’t sitting in dark rooms reveling in the gory details; they’re out in the world achieving and succeeding, active and involved, browsing and buying. The only scare factor for brands with these audiences is losing a share of their wallets.
It’s about listener delight, not fright
The news changes from day to day, great comedy happens in the moment and the details of years-old cases are still surprising. While the unpredictability of these genres makes brands hesitant, it’s also what attracts big audiences. Listeners trust the hosts of shows like Morning Joe, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and Last Podcast on the Left to keep them informed, entertained and involved. These audiences are leaned in and engaged, taking their favorite shows with them throughout the day, wherever they go.
For example, true crime equals me-time for many of its audience members. They satisfy their cravings while going about their days. According to Podsurvey data:
- 83% listen at home while doing chores or relaxing after dinner or putting kids to bed.
- 75% listen in the car during their commute or after dropping kids off at school.
- 73% listen at work during lunch and coffee breaks or while performing repetitive tasks.
- 60% listen while traveling long and short distances by car, train or plane.
Thrilled to listen, even to ads
Though brands worry about running ads alongside content like true crime, audiences don’t share their anxiety. A Q4 2021 survey from Podsurvey found 89% of listeners say their opinion of brands is unchanged or improved because they are advertising within true-crime content. To these listeners, ads heard on true-crime shows are no different than when they run in other places. In fact, some respondents describe the advertisers in the true-crime category with positive attributes like interesting, relevant, likable and edgy. Less than 1% of listeners surveyed expressed a negative opinion.
Nothing to fear
Comedy, news and true crime––the advertising opportunities are huge. When you consider the nature of podcast listeners and the categories most of them are listening to, the only thing to fear is missing out on engaging them effectively.
