This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. I'm Newton Shalokati. And I'm Gavin Gaddis. The Download is brought to you by Podscribe. Find out more at podscribe.com. This week, what the Saab 900 can teach podcasting, Tubi report gives glimpse into the Tubi ecosystem, how data and insights work together, and podcast superfans are super spenders. Let's get started.
This Wednesday from Tom Webster, it sounds profitable. Last week, Tom called for the industry to start thinking about what will need to be done to shore up what makes podcasting uniquely podcasting and not a subgenre of video that it's swiftly becoming.
One response to the podcasting 3.0 piece took to YouTube to respond in podcasting form. A quote from the article, quote, I'm not linking it because I'm not trying to pick on him, but let's examine that action. He read my piece, had a reaction, then took the shortest path from idea to audience. He turned on his camera and posted to a closed system. He did nothing wrong, but if we don't see this as an indictment of open podcasting's current state, I don't know what else to say, end quote.
... ... ... ... ... has not fully sunk in for the open podcasting side of the industry. More and more, podcasting is starting to feel like the Saab of media channels. Tom brings up his own backstory with knowing a Saab 900 owner in New England.
A Swedish-built car lauded for its safety and build quality, but all of the positives of a reliable family sedan designed by an airplane manufacturer come with the downsides of non-standard parts and over-engineered systems that require significant engine disassembly just to change the... oil. The Sab 900 was a beast of a sedan that effectively hung around the neck of its owners like an extra mortgage payment.
Outside the Swedish ecosystem of shade tree SAV mechanics around every corner, American SAV owners were shelling out big dollars to have their 900 serviced by a licensed specialist. And even with regular maintenance, little quirks would form in every car, such as the fuel gauge simply not registering anything between entirely full and bone dry. As the driver of a mid-2000s Buick, Gavin can relate.
Then General Motors bought into Saab and eventually took over the company by 2000. Then Saab was gutted and GM started slapping Saab badges on Chevy Trailblazers and Subaru Imprezas. They were cheaper, more reliable in the U.S., more easily maintained than a real Saab, but also devoid of anything unique to a Saab. And thus, the Saab brand faded from memory. As Tom says in his piece, the quirks were the point. Quote,
With commercial radio declining in spoken word audio content increasingly in the hands of video and music platforms, I worry about people developing the audio habit. We can't assume they'll pick it up without exposure.
Over my 20 years in podcasting, I've tried to bridge independent and big podcasting, and this is when both factions need to pay attention to the quirks that make podcasting special, while still acknowledging that we just aren't there with the full listener experience yet. I certainly want to help. Otherwise, we risk turning podcasts into rebadged GMC trucks, just content instead of premium content, end quote.
This week from Tubi, Fox-owned ad-supported streaming service Tubi has published the findings of a survey conducted by the Harris Poll in November of last year. encompassing 2,502 adults aged 18 and up who had streamed at least one hour of content that week. 79% of respondents say they expect no ads if they pay for a streaming service, while 81% say watching ads is a fair trade-off to access free content on streaming services.
The average respondent is spending $129 a month on streaming services and paid TV subscriptions, a 7.5% increase year over year, with 56% of respondents actively monitoring their streaming budget so as not to overspend. This Tuesday from Paul Reismundell at Signal Hill Insights. Raw data is valuable, but not the end-all be-all.
To demonstrate, Riesmandel recounts the first two quarters of 2025 in which a national brand debuted a fresh message in a digital audio campaign tracked by Signal Hill Insights. a campaign that included both streaming audio and podcasts. In Q1, the brand's early results showed the new messaging was working well across the board, except when it came to brand favorability and consideration in podcasts.
At the end of Q1, this marked an important turning point. A person looking at the top line data would not be out of pocket in presuming podcasting simply wasn't a good venue for the campaign or the brand in general might not be a good fit for podcasts. This is where insights come in as Signal Hill Insights crunched the numbers and looked at the broader context.
A quote from Ries Mandel in the article, quote, we actually found that listeners who heard the podcast creatives were more likely to respond negatively to the brand compared to streaming listeners or even the control group of respondents who did not hear the campaign.
This isn't something we see very often so we went back to re-evaluate the creative. It's an important step because ultimately it's the ad creative that listeners are actually responding to and here they were more negative than we typically see. Even though the streaming and podcast ads shared a lot of similarities, our experience told us the tone and style were out of place in a podcast.
The creative copy points read by experienced commercial voice talent in the streaming ad didn't quite work in the context of a podcast host read, end quote. By combining both data and insight, SHI was able to pitch the idea to the brand that they should go into Q2, continuing to spend in podcasting, but also run creative specifically.
fitting the tone of podcasts. In the end, the optimization returned a greater ROI on key objectives that wouldn't have happened if the brand had scaled back or completely cut podcasts from the campaign. Podcast Thursday from Odyssey Senior Manager Research and Insights Topeka Das, an article looking at super fans, podcast audiences who tune in for more than eight hours a week, and how they engage with brands that advertise on their favorite podcasts.
According to Nielsen Scarborough Research Podcast Reconnect study, listeners only from last November, which had 53,528 respondents, 60% of heavy podcast listeners are more likely than average to purchase advertised products online. A quote from Doss, quote, as marketers search for more effective ways to reach consumers, podcasts offer a rare direct line to them.
While social media users scroll away and TV audiences tune out during commercial breaks, podcast listeners are fully engaged. Podcasts are me time, whether through earbuds, smart speakers, or in the car. End quote. End quote. End quote. Super fans are also 71% more likely to purchase advertised products in store.
That said, it's worth noting that heavy podcast consumers are also heavy internet users, which is more than likely a primary driver of that purchasing behavior. However, podcasts are clearly an efficient way to reach these active... online super consumers. Finally, it's time for our quick hits. These are articles that didn't quite make the cut for full coverage in today's episode but are very much still worth including in your weekend reading.
This week I've got for you, YouTube is parting the curtain with a free webinar next Wednesday, that's March 26th at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. This will feature Jenny Huang, Senior Product Manager Discovery, and Emma Sweet. Global Product Activation Manager Podcasts, the two will discuss the YouTube algorithm and share key discovery signals that will benefit video podcast performance. Next up, 10 years of Amplify and podcasting's evolution.
Amplify Media by Stephen Goldstein. This is a look back at April 2014 when Goldstein founded Amplify Media following a career of working at places like NBC, ABC, and growing Saga Communications to encompass over 100 radio stations. Triton Digital has published their February Australian Rankers. BBC Studios has been given exclusive access to the Oracle Red Bull F1 team for the upcoming podcast, The Inside Track.
which will cover behind-the-scenes stories and developments from each race throughout Red Bull's 2025 season. And podcast fandom is growing and deepening through multi-platform activity by William Earle.
variety coverage of a new white paper from Wondery titled The Fandom Phenomenon, including details such as 43% of respondents looking for podcast-related content in TV and books, with the report suggesting... that this show's podcast talent and studios have the opportunity to scale their brands into multimedia franchises.
And that was the download brought to you by Sounds Profitable. I know we went through today's stories fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned right in your podcast listening app or on the download section of soundsprofitable.com. And thank you for sticking with us as we bring you the time.
stories you might have missed from the past week. I'm Newton Schottelcotti. And I'm Gavin Gaddis. Our producers are myself, Newton Schottelcotti, Brian Barletta, and Tom Webster. Special thanks to you for listening to the download. Robot? Download complete.