Podcasting Enters a New Era of Multiplatform Growth, IAB Says.

Podcasting’s next phase will be shaped by more than audience growth and rising ad revenue. At the IAB’s 2026 Podcast Upfront, executives pointed to the medium’s strongest differentiator — the relationship between creators and listeners — while also outlining challenges around multiplatform consumption, measurement, video and artificial intelligence.

Opening the event Wednesday, IAB CEO David Cohen said advertisers should not overlook the connection podcast hosts build with their audiences as the medium expands across video, platforms and the broader creator economy.

“Podcasting has always had another asset that is harder to quantify and incredibly difficult to replicate, and that is relationships,” Cohen said. “People choose the podcast that they listen to, they choose the hosts they spend time with, they develop familiarity with their voices, their perspectives, and their personalities.”

Cohen said those relationships create an advertising environment in which hosts can introduce brands with an authenticity that is difficult to manufacture. Repeated listening can also turn audiences into communities rather than simply collections of impressions.

“A story can make a product memorable. A conversation can make a brand feel relevant,” Cohen said, pointing to podcasting’s growing audience, expanding creator base and increasing participation from brands across categories.

Ad Dollars Lag Listening

IAB Director of the Media Center Jason Adamski, however, emphasized that the medium’s growth is accompanied by increasing complexity. Attention is fragmenting across platforms, audience behavior is changing and measurement is struggling to keep pace.

“That’s podcasting in 2026,” Adamski said. “We have formats that are mature and growing into their own. We have formats that are new and still trying to figure out what they want to be.”

Adamski said digital audio now reaches 220 million people weekly and accounts for 87 minutes of daily consumption, roughly matching time spent with social media. Yet digital audio represents 16% of media time while accounting for just 2% of advertising spending.

Podcast advertising is growing faster. Revenue increased 17.6% in 2025 to nearly $3 billion, Adamski said, 27% faster than digital advertising overall. The top 10 podcast advertisers spent $130 million in the first quarter, while 1,300 brands entered podcast advertising for the first time last year.

“The channel broadens before it scales, and right now, podcasting is broadening,” Adamski said.

Podcasts account for nearly 5% of digital media time but less than 1% of digital advertising spending, according to Adamski. He said existing buying infrastructure can leave smaller and independent podcasts outside the advertising marketplace.

Video Becomes Front Door

Video is adding another layer. Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights research cited by Adamski found that 49% of podcast consumers used video in 2026, up from 30% four years ago. Among Gen Z, 37% consume podcasts via video more often than audio.

“Video’s become the front door to podcasting,” Adamski said, describing it as a key way younger audiences discover and consume the medium.

The shift is complicating measurement. Traditional download metrics do not fully capture consumption across audio, video, devices and platforms. YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts also use different methodologies, making cross-platform campaign comparisons difficult.

IAB released its “Podcast Continue to Evolve” framework Wednesday to address the issue, outlining measurement standards and disclosure practices for multiplatform delivery and time-shifted apps. Additional work on HLS and technical measurement guidelines is planned.

AI Enters Podcast Workflow

Artificial intelligence is another area of change. Adamski cited a Descript survey showing nearly two-thirds of podcasters already use generative AI for production tasks including editing, transcription, chapter summaries and clips.

“AI is for the workflow, not for the microphone,” Adamski said, while noting translation as a potential exception. IAB plans further work in 2027 on AI and automation, AI-generated content, trust and disclosure.

“Podcasting is growing up,” Adamski said. “It’s more complex than it was five years ago. It’s more multi-format, more multi-platform, more multi-everything.”