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Writer's pictureInside Audio Marketing

Audioboom Revenue Grows Despite A $9 Million Hit From iOS 17 Download Dip.


Audioboom has reported its third consecutive quarter of profitability, as it says revenue during the first half of the year grew 7% from a year ago to $34.1 million. Driving those gains is a record quarterly eCPM – or the amount of revenue it books per 1,000 downloads. During the second quarter it was $60.09, or a 38% increase from last year. It also wrote business with more than 8,000 advertisers. CEO Stuart Last says the results show that the dip in spending they experienced last year is now squarely in the rearview mirror.


“This is a rebound to a very deep advertising recession that began in early to mid-2022, and lasted throughout ’23,” Last said during a webinar presentation for investors. “To come back from that and show growth in three successive periods, I think it's a really good sign that the recession is behind us at this point that we can focus on further growth going forward.”


One of the best performing segments for Audioboom during the first half of the year is its programmatic Showcase platform. It was able to secure pricing increases from advertisers. Showcase had $9.3 million in total revenue during the first half, a 37% year-over-year increase. And Showcase now contributes 27% of Audioboom’s overall revenue.


The company also points out that it has more than $65 million revenue for 2024 booked already, which it points out is more than total revenue for 2023 with five months of the year remaining.


“What we're seeing today is a sign of resilience in the market,” Last said. “We have recovered from that, and now the platform is stronger than ever before, and we are primed for faster growth across the rest of this year.”


The $9 Million Apple Bite


Audioboom averaged 94.8 million downloads each month during the second quarter, which is a drop from 125.9 million recorded a year ago. Last said they continue to feel the impact of the introduction of Apple’s iOS 17, which meant that some episodes are no longer automatically downloaded. Audioboom says its downloads have decreased by 23%. But that is less than the 32% decline for the industry overall. 


“For us, this has not been as severe as for our competitors,” Last said. Yet he also acknowledged the change has been frustrating. “I think the industry is a little bit surprised by how long the lag has been,” Last said. He thinks the download bottom was in April and May – or six months after iOS 17 debuted. “I think we have seen the bottom – and July downloads are trending to be ahead.”


The changes have come at a multimillion-dollar cost for Audioboom. “We estimate that our revenue could have been around $9 million higher for FY 2024 had that change from Apple not come about,” he said, telling investors, “It just limited us – because of that reduction in the downloads and available inventory to sell.” But Last expects the impact of the iOS17 update to create more favorable long-term commercial conditions in the podcast industry due to the increased levels of return-on-investment that more accurate download data it will deliver to advertisers.


Tighter Rein On Contracts


Even with the impact of the Apple change, Audioboom had $300,000 in earnings during the second quarter. Three successive profitable quarters come as the company has focused on costs, including how much it pays podcasters. 


“We continue to restructure our creator contracts, making them more favorable to Audioboom by removing minimum guarantee obligations, which just makes everything else risky,” Last told shareholders. “We still have to offer minimum guarantees the biggest podcast in the world to get them to work with us in this competitive landscape. But we do this less risky way, and a more kind of equitable way.” He said that includes offering producers more services, distribution, and marketing.


Audioboom says its board is now seriously looking at moving its listing from London to a U.S. stock market, seeing bigger opportunities trading in New York. Last thinks U.K. traders have “undervalued” the company and American investor have a better understanding of the media and technology industries. He also pointed out that large portion of Audioboom revenue already comes from the U.S. market.


“Operationally, we are a U.S. business,” Last said.

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