For years, media planners have treated radio and podcasting as cousins—similar enough to be grouped together, but often competing for the same slice of the audio pie. However, new research from Sounds Profitable suggests that treating them as interchangeable is a missed opportunity for advertisers.
In a keynote titled “The Audio One-Two Punch,” Tom Webster, Partner at Sounds Profitable, revealed that the “Primes”—the most frequent and passionate users of each medium—hardly overlap at all.
“When you really focus on the Primes audience—the people who say radio is my top choice, and the same for podcasting—what you discover is there’s almost no overlap at all,” Webster told Radiodays North America. “It’s only about four per cent. You almost couldn’t get them farther apart and still call it a Venn diagram. It’s just two circles.”
Power of the ‘combined buy’
The study, titled The Advertising Landscape, surveyed 5,000 U.S. adults to analyze how they interact with 23 different ad-supported platforms. The findings make a compelling case for a “Make Audio Great Again” strategy, Webster joked, that leverages both platforms in tandem.
He noted that adding podcasts to an AM/FM buy provides 20% incremental reach, while adding radio to a podcast buy increases reach by a staggering 382%.
“You are reaching two different audiences in two very different ways,” Webster explained. “The radio vibe can get people to go, ‘Huh? What?’ and then they may be ready for a deeper conversation on the podcast side. It’s a natural extension; it’s the next part of the conversation.”
Generational distinctions
Demographic data affirms that the two mediums anchor different age groups, with radio driven by adults 56+, leaning slightly more female. Podcasting’s audeince is centred on adults, aged 26 to 40, with a slight male lean and higher household income.
Webster highlighted that while podcasting “punches way below its weight” with the 55+ demographic, it isn’t because they don’t know how to access podcasts.
“I did not forget how to consume podcasts when I reached that milestone,” Webster, quipped. “We need more 55+ people sitting behind the mic…because we have more money, more time, and we’re angry.”
Trust, recall, and the ‘earball’ advantage
One of the most striking findings of the study was the level of ad recall. While social media platforms like Facebook struggle with ad blindness, Webster said audio listeners are leaning in.
Eighty-six per cent of Podcast Primes could recall a specific brand they heard advertised in the past week, with 77-79% of Radio Primes reporting similar recall levels. He attributes this to the unique way the brain processes audio.
“When radio enters your earballs, it tickles those hairs and is directly converted to electricity,” he told the audience. “Audio reaches our brains faster than visual information.”
Webster concluded with a “cheat sheet” for media sellers to better position the two mediums, suggesting radio salespeople lean into scale as a “companion medium” that follows people through their day without being perceived as intrusive. Conversely, he suggests podcast sellers should lean into trust and engagement as podcast listeners view host-read ads as authentic and natural, leading to higher purchase attribution.
“You can confidently message on both channels without wearing out your welcome,” Webster said. “You can tell a fuller, deeper story without being repetitious, because you really are reaching different people.”
