A few blockbuster podcasts are making all the money
Alex Cooper is nearing a $100 million deal for her “Call Her Daddy" podcast with Sirius. Trevor Noah is in talks to reup for a second season with Spotify. Joe Rogan inked a deal with the audio giant worth up to $250 million.
And it’s looking like football’s Kelce brothers’ show could be next in line, as the No. 4 podcast in the U.S. The podcast industry was initially a way for a crowd of voices from culture watchers to true-crime nerds to talk about everything from murders to science and sex.
All you needed was a decent microphone. Now, podcasting is turning into an industry of megastars who command the most money and the biggest audiences. There are still nearly 450,000 active shows that have published recent episodes, according to Podcast Industry Insights.
But the top 25 podcasts reach nearly half of U.S. weekly listeners, according to Edison Research. The top talents have tours, merchandise and multiyear deals in the nine figures.
Big advertisers want in. Podcast distributors, like Spotify and Amazon, are capitalizing on this dynamic. Some are experimenting with selling subscriptions for their top shows, in the hopes of persuading audiences to pay more to listen without ads, get early access or exclusive bonus content.
They are making video versions of podcasts. Some are selling more ads to bigger brands like car manufacturers and alcohol distributors that spend much more than the startups that peppered most podcast ads for years, such as mattress-makers, health supplement brands, mindfulness apps and meal kit delivery companies. After a costly boom-and-bust cycle that spanned about half a decade, the podcasting business is growing up.
Read more on livemint.com
