Are There Too Many Ads On Podcasts?

 For those who have been engaged with podcasts for a decade or longer, those early days of few or no ads were glorious. Of course, ads support podcasting like most other media, so they're necessary. Just like with TV and radio, podcast listeners understand that --unless you're paying for a subscription -- ads are the price of admission. 

It's not a surprise that as podcasts have garnered more ears, more ads on podcasts are followed. They're a package deal. It's like the pilot fish that often swim into the mouths of sharks to eat small pieces of food from a shark's teeth. 

In fact, a recent study by Edison Research and Ad Results Media found that Podcast “Super Listeners,” Americans 18+ who listen to five or more hours of podcasts weekly, are engaged more than ever with podcast ads according to the latest Super Listeners Study.

The study revealed 51 percent of podcast Super Listeners agree that they pay more attention to ads on podcasts than on other media, up from 48 percent last year.

Even enthusiastic podcast ad fans like Super Listeners notice an increase in the number of commercials and length of ad breaks in podcasts. 

In that Edison Research study, 59 percent of Super Listeners say the total number of ads in the podcast they regularly listen to has increased, up from 56 percent  last year.
 

Moreover, 43 percent  of Super Listeners say the length of the average ad break in the podcast they regularly listen to has increased, up from 41 percent last year.
 

In a deeply troubling trend, 22 percent of Super Listeners said that there are “way too many” advertisements on podcasts relative to other types of media, up from 18 percent last year.

To summarize, so far, podcasting's most ardent fans observe that there are too many podcast ads and the length of the ads is becoming too long.  Casual and infrequent listeners will most likely have a shorter fuse for the intrusion of podcast ads.

Are the number and length of ads increasing in podcasting. Yes and yes. Now, data remains as cloudy as a Seattle day, but most surveys report a 22 percent increase in the number of ads in the fourth quarter 2021. The length of ads has also expanded by 45 seconds per ad. 

You may be saying: "So what." I can fast-forward through the ads or ignore them. 

That's certainly true. But let's briefly explore what happened to radio and TV when ads gradually crowded out content on both media formats.

Radio is especially vulnerable because switching barriers are almost non-existent. Don't want to listen to five minutes of ads on your top 40 pop music station? There are four more stations with similar playlists. Or you can switch to streaming music or downloaded music.

Broadcast and cable TV has driven viewers to streaming channels due to the sky-high number of ads they force-feed their customers. Today, a 30-minute sitcom like Abbott Elementary or Blackish, has 21 minutes of content and nine minutes of ads. That means 42 percent of the show is advertisements. On hour-long dramas like all the NCIS or Chicago shows, ads consume 18 minutes and content receives 42 minutes. That's close to 40 percent of the show's time slot allotted to ads.

Imagine a podcast like Stuff You Should Know, which averages 50 minutes a segment. That would mean about 18 minutes of ads if podcasting followed TV's content-to-ad ratio.

How do ads affect podcasts differently than TV? 

First, TV shows are typically consumed during leisure time, unless, of course, your employer doesn't know or doesn't track your computer activity. Podcasts are typically digested while engaged in an activity -- walking, working out, cleaning, home repairs -- and are therefore time-sensitive media. 

If your commute in a vehicle or on mass transit is 40 minutes, then your podcast listening window is 35 minutes, with five minutes to decompress before or after work. If your favorite news show like The Daily or Today Explained runs over your commute time due to an increasing number of ads, then listeners must either fast-forward through the ad, if possible, finish the content of the show later in the day, or simply not finish the show.

Whatever strategy listeners employ, podcast ads have created more "friction" during the podcast experience. Friction, such as ads, technology snafus, and uninspired content, reduce usage. 

So far, large podcast networks have used their intentional increase in ad time on podcasts to drive listeners to subscription models where they can listen without ads. 

While these subscription models has attracted paying loyal listeners, more infrequent listeners seem to be searching for alternative podcasts with similar content without the ads. 

Will the continued expansion of ads on podcasts drive listeners to podcasts with fewer or no ads? Clearly, from the aforementioned research, Super Listeners find value in podcast ads, even though that group also expressed concern about the "ad blitz."

The "invasion of the podcast ads" could also create a bifurcated podcast universe, where one group listens to podcasts ad-free and before other listeners due to their monthly subscription payment. The other "free" group still receives the ads and waits an additional week for the content.

We know that more casual listeners have a low bar for podcast ads from the survey results listed above.

If large podcast networks prioritize the bottom line and inject ads into their podcasts like Botox into a Hollywood celebrity's face, will listeners then flee to indie podcasts where ads are non-existent or sparse? 

After all, according to podcast consultant George Witt, there are 107 science podcasts worthy of a listen, 217 intriguing history podcasts, 678 worthwhile movie review podcasts, and 345 genuinely funny comedy podcasts. 

Unlike TV, where viewers have to scale mountains of time and effort to escape ads, podcast listeners can free themselves of intrusive ads with a simple search on their podcast app or on Google or Duck Duck Go. 

The "golden goose" scenario applies here. The question is: Will Acast, Amazon, Apple, Cumulus, iHeart, Spotify, and Vox kill the Golden Goose for quarterly profits?