This Week’s Influencer: Debating Rogan’s Podcast Definition, How to 12x Up Audio Performance; Podscribe’s New Tools Break the Attribution Black Box

“Joe Rogan Isn’t a Podcast.”🔥

This week on the Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO, Oxford Road) hosts Steve Pratt (Founder, The Creativity Business, author of Earn It: Unconventional Strategies for Brave Marketers) for a debate about Steve’s article on Joe Rogan’s podcast status.

Why? Because a podcast is still the best place for an open exchange of ideas–even ideas about what is and isn’t a podcast. Plus, the cement’s still wet on our new podcast definition, so it’s time for a gut check.

Dan and Steve also cover Picking a Platform, Earning Attention, and more. This week’s episode is sponsored by The Daily Wire.

“Consumers hold all the power. They can bypass anything they don’t want. So the opportunity for most marketers that isn’t being taken advantage of is: make something that people want.” – Steve Pratt (Founder, The Creativity Business)

Is Joe Rogan a Podcast  – Or is he a multi-platform media star? While Steve argues his podcasting facade is but one facet of an intricately produced visual empire, Dan counters that visuals are nice to haves, not necessities. Social clips generate views and are amazing for discoverability, but the core engine of the show works without visuals. Rogan’s built a connection with audiences that works audio-only. CAOs, if you’d trust the host to sell you something with your eyes closed, we call that a podcast.

Pick A Platform? No Need  – The question isn’t IF you should be on a platform, it’s “is my audience there?” Meet audiences where they’re at and when. Audio-only, YouTube & Social perform best in different cycles of the day, and like Joe Rogan has shown, the different platforms support each other. CAOs, for maximum results, meet your audience across platforms and dayparts.

Follow the Audience, Don’t Lead Them – Good marketers and creators think alike: audience first, always. Make content that helps your customer outside of your product. Why are they buying it? Can your expertise help them with something they care about? Casper mattress created a memorable podcast series about how to get better sleep. We know their CAO was dreaming big, and it’s good advice for everyone. How can you be so helpful that you don’t just grab attention, you earn it?

The Full Episode: Joe Rogan isn’t a Podcast: Steve Pratt Puts Podcasting’s Definition to the Test

The Classifieds

Money Talks, But So Do Podcast Hosts

Network: Glassbox Media / Monthly Downloads: 37k
Current Civility Score: 99, HIGH

As the podcast industry continues to build trust with audiences, many women are turning to audio to improve their financial literacy. Women often face nuanced, specific roadblocks to financial freedom and economic success. Shari Rash has recently joined the hosting duties on Everyone’s Talkin’ Money, a podcast that aims to demystify and edify underserved communities. Whether you’re a young professional trying to climb the corporate ladder or a self-improvement-motivated lifelong learner, Shari contextualizes and shares high-impact advice for the journey ahead. Guests are experts in their given fields of finance, medicine, education, AI and more. This long running show has been a top performer for many DR clients since inception, only gaining more long-term partnerships year over year. Advertisers looking for education-driven business options for Q3 testing should look no further. Put your money where your mouth is by indulging the link below.

Get The Deal

Two Ladies, One Mic, and No Need for a U-Haul

Network: Fannie Co / Monthly Downloads: 50k
Current Civility Score: n/a

Kendahl Landreth and Jordan Myrick have long been Internet darlings, having amassed substantial audiences through TikTok and YouTube. The well-known comedians, and real-life wives, are now helming their first podcast via the fine folks at FannieCo. Their humor is rooted in extending good vibes, being goofy, and always trying to do better, every single day. Though not wanting to be called experts, these lovestruck spouses spend each episode giving their unfettered advice about all things romance. Whether you’re debating trying a long distance relationship for the first time, or finally telling your best friend you want more, they have LGBTQIA+ focused advice to share. The wives are joined by phenomenal guests, including queer comedian and interviewer Catherine McCafferty, newlywed influencer Remi Cruz (Parsons), and iconic YouTuber and podcast host Shannon Beveridge. If you’ve fallen in love at first sight with this Classified, follow the link below for more.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

There’s Margin in the Mystery of Radio

MAGNA’s updated 2025 US advertising forecast shows radio’s overall growth raised to 4.6%, driven by strong digital spending and a solid first quarter. However, AM/FM radio faces a 3.2% revenue decline to $12.2 billion. Digital audio ad sales will rise 3.7%, while podcasting’s up 9%. This forecast signals that the economic uncertainty we saw in Q1 might be short-lived. Radio spend is down, but digital audio is picking up the slack. The bigger story? The drop in audio spend is greater than the drop in listenership. That’s an opportunity. Radio is pretty much the definition of a moneyball medium.

Read More

Tastes Great, Less Filling

The report by System1 highlights that creativity significantly boosts profitability, with creative quality multiplying profits by 12x. However, many marketers lack confidence, overvalue short-term metrics like clicks, and undervalue creativity, believing it’s just too risky. The study also shows that media channel choice impacts outcome. Some channels – SEM, Display – are better for short-term (as expected) while others – print, TV – perform better over a longer time horizon. Interestingly, radio and podcasts sit in the middle. With audio, CAOs can have their cake and eat it too: results now, and brand equity that generates results over time.

Read More

Beyond the Black Box

Podscribe has launched three major upgrades to improve transparency and control in programmatic audio advertising. Advertisers using DSPs like The Trade Desk can now see exactly which publishers are running their ads, eliminating black-box reporting. These updates aim to make audio advertising more accountable, efficient, and data-driven. All features are now live in the Podscribe dashboard. Transparency in programmatic is paramount, according to the ANA. Less than half of programmatic ad spend actually reaches consumers, and this is after recent improvements! That’s why Podscribe’s push to bring accountability to audio’s programmatic space is so timely.

Read More

Save The Live Reads

What’s Behind the Velvet Rope? Indeed!

David Yontef offers up a solid testimonial this week on his podcast Behind the Velvet Rope, highlighting his recent experience hiring through Indeed! Blending his personal endorsement with clear product benefits and USPs, David shares a relatable challenge—the struggle to find qualified job candidates. He then demonstrates how Indeed directly solves that problem, while making the experience feel genuine and trustworthy. Key features like ‘sponsored jobs’ and their impact on visibility are woven into his read naturally, supported by substantiation to add credibility. Yontef’s tone is enthusiastic and confident, reinforcing the product’s value without sounding forced—resulting in a sincere recommendation, with NO stanchions required!

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Our new original series takes on the nearly impossible task of defining the word “podcast,” with insights from over 30 experts in the space space —including Ira Glass, Adam Carolla, Guy Raz, and more. It’s a must-listen for those with an interest in the past, present, and future state of podcasting. If you haven’t listened to our series yet, now’s the perfect time to check it out.

If you’ve read this far, thank you.

The Influencer is a production from the team at Oxford Road. If you like our sometimes sassy, mostly informed POVs on the wonderful world of audio advertising, you should see what we do for our clients. Interested in seeing how we could help your business?
Contact us at influencer@oxfordroad.com!

Thank you to the team that puts The Influencer together each week:

Ezra Fox – Media Roundtable & Ad Infinitum recap
Spencer Semonson – Classifieds
Neal Lucey – In Case You Missed It
Hannah Lloyd – Save The Live Reads

Editors:
Kyle Jelinek
Shelley Kilburn
Kristen Larson
Haley Wiese
Rubi Mora