Podscribe: Podcasts Plus Streaming Audio Deliver 85% U.S. Reach.

Podcast advertising is increasingly being viewed as a true reach vehicle, especially when combined with streaming audio. New data from Podscribe’s Q3 2025 Performance Benchmark Report shows that the two channels together can now reach more than 85% of the U.S. 18+ population.

“Somewhat to our surprise, I’d say they are fairly unique in their reach,” CEO Pete Birsinger said on a webinar detailing the findings.

The addition of streaming audio data to the 130 to 150 million people who listen to podcasts reveals a clearer picture of overlap. When looking at household IPs, podcast and streaming audio impressions only overlap by about 20%, according to Podscribe.

“It almost looks like they’re completely unique,” Head of Partnerships Matt Drengler said. “But I think the big headline here is that when using both of these channels combined, we can reach upwards of 85% or more of the U.S. adult population.” That positions digital audio alongside TV, radio, and social media as a scale medium.

Podscribe’s latest benchmarks show podcast ads provide a stronger incremental lift than streaming audio, underscoring the medium’s value in driving unique conversions. It pegs the median incrementality for podcasts at 32%, compared to 21% when brands buy both podcasts and streaming, and just 14% for streaming audio alone.

“That feels right to us, because we do think of podcasting as being a fairly unique, hard-to-reach audience,” said Drengler. “Whereas with streaming, we have a bit more overlap across other channels.”

The data also reveals that smaller brands see higher incremental lift percentages with podcasting, while larger advertisers that spread budgets across multiple channels tend to see lower results. “As an advertiser is bigger, the incrementality starts to go down,” Drengler explained. “Those larger advertisers typically have bigger marketing budgets and disperse their funds across more channels.”

YouTube is also becoming a critical part of that reach equation. Podscribe reports that 75% of episodic podcast ad campaigns now include YouTube as a simulcast component, with the video platform accounting for nearly 60% of impressions in those campaigns. That growing YouTube footprint, layered on top of podcasting and streaming, expands the potential universe of listeners and viewers. But as Podscribe’s conversion data has shown, not all impressions are equal — while YouTube adds scale, podcast downloads remain more effective at driving purchases.

“I think a lot of people don’t think of digital audio as a reach play,” Drengler said. “We might think about radio or TV as a reach play, maybe even social. But digital audio really does play in that space, seeing that 85% of people can be reached here within these two channels.”

Download the latest PPB report HERE.