Bump It Up: How The Bumper Score Unlocks Measurement with Bryan Barletta

The AMP Accords shared some big goals for better measurement in July. But what does real tangible progress look like today? Find out on this week’s installment of The Media Roundtable.

Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) and Bryan Barletta (Partner, Sounds Profitable) join forces for a crossover episode with The Download podcast. They’re covering the industry’s shift away from downloads, the Bumper Score, and how to avoid a repeat of the iOS 17 drama. Let’s dig in.

“[Podcasters] build this stage and this venue and they fill it with people, and then they gotta drag it across the desert by themselves. Why don’t we put some wheels on this thing?” – Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road)

Opportunity vs. Impressions – When there’s uncertainty in the buying chain, that friction comes at a cost. Over the last few decades, we’ve seen a shift from buying ads as an opportunity for exposure to buying actual, measurable impressions. Podcasts are a holdout, with inconsistently defined downloads that force buyers to guess how many people received an ad. If the industry wants to move forward, there needs to be a standard metric.

Score One for Bumper – The Bumper Score is our newest directional tool to understand real podcast consumption. Creators can see how their show rates compared to a benchmark for actual podcast consumption, as opposed to just looking at download numbers. Buyers can make better decisions based on those scores. That’s why Oxford Road is partnering with Bumper to help get more reliable data on who’s truly consuming the shows. (Want to learn the Bumper Score for your show? Find out more here.)

Ghosts of iOS 17 – Look, no publisher wants a sequel to the iOS 17 debacle, where all traffic metrics instantly tanked, even when consumption was steady. The Bumper Score is our next step towards clarifying true ad consumption without upsetting the market. High-scoring shows can command a premium (because they’re worth it), while low-scoring shows can start fixing their traffic before it hurts their bottom line.

The industry improves with big goals and incremental steps in the right direction. The Bumper Score is the next move towards better data and better podcasting decisions. For more insights on the score and why it matters, check out the full episode of The Media Roundtable below.