Advertisers Flock To Simulcasts, But YouTube Still Trails Podcasts In Conversions.

The number of advertising campaigns focused on a single show continue to decrease, as Podscribe reports that audience-based buying using programmatic platforms and run-of-network buys has grown 2.5-times in the past ten months and now accounts for nearly one in three ad impressions. And many buyers are making YouTube part of that shift.

Podscribe’s Q3 2025 Performance Benchmark Report shows the share of episodic campaigns that include both podcast downloads and YouTube views rose from 58% in July 2024 to 75% by June 2025. “For episodic campaigns where you’re buying on a single episode, the number of those campaigns that is on both audio and video has risen dramatically over the past year,” CEO Pete Birsinger said. “Most episodic campaigns these days have YouTube in them — it’s the reality of where we’re at.”

The report shows YouTube dominates simulcast consumption, accounting for 60% of impressions, compared to 40% from audio downloads. “Of simulcast campaigns, we see almost two thirds of the consumption happening on YouTube,” Birsinger noted during a webinar detailing findings in the quarterly report.

While advertisers are increasingly adding YouTube to podcast campaigns, new benchmark data shows audio-only ads remain more efficient at driving performance.

Podscribe’s report finds that audio campaigns outperform simulcast campaigns by 34% in aggregate code rate, which measures promo code redemptions per impression. In practical terms, if a podcast download campaign generates 100 website purchases, an equal number of YouTube simulcast views would drive about 66.

“The theory is that with podcasting you really have to opt in, and you really have to lean in to listen to a podcast,” Birsinger said. “It’s the same loyal group of people who may have more loyalty to the host.

Camden Weber, Senior Director of Partnerships, pointed to YouTube’s potential distractions. “When I’m watching on YouTube, it’s on my second monitor, I’m in a prime position to convert, but there are a lot of distractions too,” he said. “To the right of that podcast that I’m watching on YouTube, I’ve got 20 other recommendations — way more prevalent in these simulcast environments.”

Podcasters and advertisers alike are still trying to get their arms around how impactful ads that appear both on audio and video episodes perform. Head of Partnerships Matt Drengler said advertisers want better ways to measure YouTube’s impact by leveraging things like code redemptions and survey responses. “Perhaps the real answer lies in the digital data,” he said, saying adding pixels to YouTube might show a different answer to how effective its podcast ads really are.

Podscribe plans to release a white paper with deeper findings on the effectiveness of YouTube simulcasts compared to podcast downloads.

Download the latest PPB report HERE.