The top advertising category on radio in April was podcasting, as publishers including the iHeartPodcast Network, Audacy’s Cadence13, Recount Media and others flooded the airwaves with tens of thousands of promos and commercials for new shows. Media Monitors says 62,396 ads for podcasts aired on radio stations it tracks during April.
The number largely reflects how iHeartMedia and Audacy are using their radio portfolios to plug new podcasts on their networks – iHeart owns 850 stations and Audacy owns 235.
“We have a combination of unparalleled assets that are unique to iHeart in the podcast industry and that allow us to build hit show after hit show,” said iHeart CEO Bob Pittman. “Our broadcast radio reach acts as a megaphone to promote our podcasts like no other company can and our technology and platform assets make it easy for talent to create shows and process to monetize them,” he told analysts during the company’s quarterly earnings call this month.
Driven by an infusion of new ad campaigns for podcasts, live events, employment recruitment and other categories, the number of new unique creative on radio increased 44.6% in April. New rankings of the top new unique creative and advertisers released Wednesday by Media Monitors show there were with 20,933 more instances of new ad creative last month than in April 2020.
The trend continued through the first week of May, with an increase of 2,710 new unique creative over the same period in 2020.
“Interest in radio is rising, especially as the economy begins to reopen,” said Media Monitors President/CEO Philippe Generali. “Entertainment providers, event venues and employers have a history of using the medium to reach target audiences. We expect this trend to continue as consumers return to in-person activities.”
On broadcast television and cable, new automobile advertisers led the way, followed by political advertising and the food and beverage category.
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