Fall sports remain a driver of podcast ad spending for gaming companies. Magellan AI estimates they spent $19.9 million on podcast ads in September, more than twice the $8.8 million spent during August. That upholds a season pattern seen in years past. Even more positive for the industry, gambling spending was up 23% vs. a year earlier.
The biggest spender among the gambling companies was MGM Resorts International, which invested $5 million on podcast ads. DraftKings ranked second, with $4.1 million, followed by VGW, developer and distributor of online social casino and poker games, with $3.2 million.
The close connect with sports results in the expected selection of podcast content. Magellan says $7.5 million of the gambling industry’s advertising in podcasting went to sports shows. Society & Culture ($3.3 million) and Comedy ($2.6 million) followed.
Two-thirds of the ads were pre-produced, according to Magellan’s tally, while the gaming industry’s ads were fairly evenly split between direct response and brand awareness ads (52% to 48%).
The back-to-school season also delivered a jump in education spending. Magellan estimates education companies spent $7.1 million on podcast ads last month, a 4% increase vs. a year ago. That is a recovery from August when education spending was down 43% year-to-year.
The biggest education advertiser on podcasting last month was Purdue University, which invested $2.6 million in the medium. IXL Learning ($669,000) and Rosetta Stone ($660,000) followed. To reach prospective students, Society & Culture was the most-used genre, followed by News and Comedy. Most brands opted for pre-produced ads, although Magellan says 21% of the ads were host-read. And 44% were direct response. Magellan CEO Cameron Hendrix said on the monthly update webinar that because brand awareness offers fewer options for tracking conversion, more education advertisers tend to opt for direct response where promotion codes and other indicators can offer additional tracking.
Magellan AI earlier reported that Amazon was the top advertiser on podcasting during September, overtaking BetterHelp, which fell to second place. T-Mobile and Shopify followed.
And the Walt Disney Company spent $2.7 million on podcast ads last month. That put the brand into the top 10 for the first time in the last six months.
Overall, Magellan says the top 15 advertisers in podcasting spent a combined $57.72 million in September. That is more than double the $26.59 million spent by the top 15 in August — and the biggest tally for the top 15 of any month this year.
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