Podcasting is becoming an industry of megastars with huge deals and the biggest audiences; Edison: the top 25 podcasts reach nearly 50% of US weekly listeners

The top shows are adding video, merchandise and live tours and signing megadeals with Spotify, Sirius and Amazon.

Wall Street Journal 2024-07-29 Anne Steele

Context & Ripple Effects

Podcasting’s earlier expansion produced a far larger supply of shows, while Spotify pursued ownership across programming, distribution, creation tools and ad sales in a more vertically integrated podcast model.

This report suggests audience attention has nonetheless concentrated at the top. That gives the biggest franchises more leverage as platforms compete for programming and as shows extend into video, merchandise and live events.

First-order effects

The top 25 shows gain stronger bargaining power with Spotify, Sirius and Amazon because they account for nearly half of US weekly podcast listeners.
Leading creators can diversify revenue beyond audio advertising through video, merchandise and touring, making large distribution deals less dependent on a single format.

Second-order effects

Platforms may concentrate acquisition budgets and promotional inventory on proven franchises, while smaller shows face a tougher path to paid discovery and meaningful ad sales.
The push follows Spotify’s earlier investment in podcast advertising and video, increasing pressure on distributors to compete across formats rather than only through audio catalogs.

Third-order effects

If audience concentration persists, podcasting may look less like a broad open publishing market and more like an entertainment business organized around a limited number of cross-format talent franchises.
That could widen the divide between platform-backed, celebrity-led shows and independent creators, even as the overall number of available podcasts remains large.

The trend: Podcasting is shifting from a high-volume open publishing medium toward a winner-take-most market in which major platforms compete for a small set of scalable media franchises.

Discussion

@stevemberkowitz Steve Berkowitz on threads
https://www.wsj.com/... Podcast Threads A lot of folks think making good money in podcasting is easy. It's not.
@robenfarzad Roben Farzad on x
“Nearly 100 million Americans 12 and older listen to #podcasts every week...Podcast #advertising revenue is projected to grow 12% to $2+ billion this year and hit nearly $2.6 billion by 2026.” 📌 [still seems small vs other advertising] https://www.wsj.com/... #audio #media
@samro Sam Ro on x
there are ~450,000 active U.S. podcasts, WSJ reports https://www.wsj.com/... [image]
@joshthomastn Josh Thomas on x
Fascinating article about podcasts in the @WSJ. There are 450,000 podcasts and 25 have 50% of all listeners. Also 449,000 have essentially zero audience. It's just talking into the void. https://www.wsj.com/... [image]
@davidharsanyi David Harsanyi on x
I don't think this piece is surprising. One could probably make the same claim about books, movies, and music.
@ckwitt3 Conor Witt on x
@itsurboyevan Fat tail dynamics across every category of creator verticals...a few blockbuster podcasts make all the money “There are ~450k active podcasts that published recent episodes. But the top 25 podcasts reach nearly half of U.S. weekly listeners” https://www.wsj.com/... …
@wsj @wsj on x
Podcasting is turning into an industry of megastars who command the most money and the biggest audiences. But the top 25 podcasts reach nearly half of U.S. weekly listeners, according to Edison Research. https://www.wsj.com/... https://www.wsj.com/...

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