Oxford Road’s Top 13 Predictions for 2021

Welcome to the Warring ’20s

At Oxford Road, we’ve been reading the industry’s predictions on 2021 and they all seem a bit optimistic. Negative political polarization is greater than ever, race relations are at an all-time low, and the pandemic is mutating into new, more contagious strains. Welcome to 2020, Part 2, and like most sequels, it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

1. Podcast Hits $1B in Revenue Before Black Friday
This one’s a slam dunk. 2021 is the year Podcast grows up and hits the billion-dollar mark. The industry was poised to hit this milestone in 2020 but because of the pandemic, projected growth slowed. It still grew, showing the durability and gathering Madison Avenue appeal of this little industry that could. Based on our projections, we’re forecasting that the $1B mark is hit ahead of schedule.

2. Podcast Acquisitions Slow and Narrative Shifts To Mergers and Talent Acquisitions

2020 was the year of podcast acquisitions. From Spotify’s massive entry into the space earlier in the year to Amazon’s recent acquisition of Wondery, there are far less 9-figure networks to conquer. The biggest players have already been purchased, and what’s left is unlikely to attract massive interest. However, we expect further consolidation in the industry possible and more “one-off” buy-ins for individual shows like Spotify did with Joe Rogan.

3. Radio Sees Dead Cat Bounce

Radio advertising took a massive hit during the pandemic and many are projecting a rebound in 2021. However, this old warhorse is still trotting toward the glue factory. While we expect Radio to see an increase in advertising revenue this year as a reaction to the profound dips of the previous year (which will remain nameless), it’s all down from there. That said, ad revenue will likely fall much faster than listenership, making Radio a great opportunity for marketers who want to leverage the downward slide.

4. Personalized Creative Makes Headlines

With programmatic advertising expanding in all areas of the media landscape, personalized creative will quickly become the norm. Forget about running a single commercial ad nauseam — personalized creative that is custom-tailored to your target audience will start to take over. We’re already seeing this grow in OTT, and Audio is just getting started. But don’t worry, partners like A Million Ads and Marpipe are helping marketers develop a massive amount of iterations.

5. Amazon Fuses Smart Speaker and Podcast, Forming Dynamic Audio Experiences

Now that Mr. Bezos has turned his gaze to the podcast industry, it is our prediction that the nascent Flash Brief industry (short-form audio) and Podcast industry (long-form audio) are about to have a baby. The greatest impact will be the integration of dynamic audio content that can be maneuvered via voice command. We’ve been calling this for a while, but the latest transaction with Wondery just brought us a lot closer.

6. Media Curtain Falls Between “Stop the Steal Republicans” and Everyone Else

The Republican party is now split between election-disputing Trump die-hards and establishment Republicans. This schism is not just influencing the halls of Congress, but also the media landscape. We predict that “Stop the Steal” programs that promote the notion of election theft will face a major backlash from brands retreating from any association with this thinking. Those still carrying the Trump Torch will become persona non grata, and find themselves blacklisted from everything but hardcore direct response advertisers as brands seek safety between center-right and far-left news and political programming.

7. Rise of the Middle

Lord, please let this come to pass. As Fox News moves toward the center and left-leaning news platforms have nobody to rail against, things will begin to stabilize. Our prediction and hope is that the media returns to an era of objective reporting and journalistic integrity. To find out where the media stands in terms of bias and reliability, start with the gold standard in bias ratings.

8. Ad Loads Increase on Podcasts

Because they’ve literally spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Podcast, the media conglomerates who jumped into the space will need to find new ways to monetize. The easiest way to accomplish this is to jam produced DAI brand spots into their content. We’ve already seen several of our long term partners begin cramming 10 pounds of ads into a 5-pound bag, but it’s just the beginning. The days of one or two advertisers per episode are waning — start monitoring this quiet shift as your favorite shows become the audio version of the discount bin at Ross.

9. Exclusivities Disintegrate

Perhaps as a subset to the previous prediction, the increased need to monetize Podcast will also lead to the slow death of exclusivity deals on the medium. For the most part right now, when you advertise on any podcast, you’ve secured the category exclusivity for a period of time. We’re already battling networks on this point and the end result is likely a world where “episodic exclusivity” is all any network can guarantee. Expect talent reads to come at a premium as well.

10. Progress in Local Podcasts

For those paying attention, this was one of our projections last year but we’re kicking it down the field. Now that every conceivable podcast genre has been taken, local podcasts will take off and reach critical mass, making them viable for national advertisers and stand-alone campaigns alike. This movement will be another blow to Radio, who’s most attractive attribute is its hyper-local reach.

11. International Podcast Placement Market Becomes Topic of Conversation

Now that many podcasts have the ability to geo-target, we can isolate individual countries and expand client’s advertising presence outside of these here United States. We’re already hearing this request from many of our advertisers and expect more to come. More opportunities will undoubtedly arise as the landscape becomes more and more dynamic(ally inserted).

12. Rise of the ZoomCast

Everyone is on Zoom. As such, we will see the platform become an advertising medium of its own. As people continue to use the video conference tool, we will begin to see some convert their conversations into spoken word content for publication on podcast distribution platforms.

13. Pixel Tracking Becomes Norm, but Gets Called Into Question
The podcast industry is all-in on pixel-tracking, and for good reason: we finally have the ability to track non-direct visits and conversions on the medium at the show level. However, no attribution model is infallible and there will come a time this year when the belle of the podcast attribution ball gets called out. We expect a pushback that may upset the narrative for the entire industry. Our recommendation is to use pixel-tracking as one facet of your attribution model while using tried and true post-purchase surveys and traditional marketing mix models to confirm the results.

November 2025: ORBIT Rankings and Insights on the Top 15 Performing Comedy Podcasts

ORBIT ranks podcasts by actual advertiser performance, not exposure or vanity metrics. Built on real campaign data across 500+ advertisers managing $1.6 Billion+ in annual spend.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Comedy’s #1 in advertiser investment. But ROI shows some funny business.

November 2025 ORBIT Rankings

Below are the Top 15 Performing Comedy Podcasts, ranked by advertiser results over the past 12 months.
These are the shows that consistently outperformed benchmarks and delivered measurable ROI.

Top 15 Performing Comedy Podcasts - November 2025

November 2025 ORBIT Insights

Laughter, Not the Best Medicine: Comedy claims the most ad spend, but as a genre, performance is in the bottom tier. So why the outsized investment? It may be due to brand safety concerns, where Comedy appears to be a safer option for scaling over, say, Politics and Government. Stop treating Comedy as a safe default. It’s a sophisticated category that requires real expertise.
The Best vs. The Rest: While the genre is soft overall, the top 15 Comedy podcasts boast elite-tier performance. These shows represent distinct comedy styles and formats, from advice to game shows. The takeaway? There are no guarantees in Comedy performance, but there are plenty of ways to turn funny into money.
Category Matters: Not all Comedy advertisers are created equal. High-spend categories, like gambling and shopping, actually underperform, while premium lifestyle brands excel. The lesson: comedy can offer a great ROI as long as there’s audience fit and you don’t overspend.
The Summer Slump: Scaling Comedy spend? Take the Summer off. In 3 of the last 4 complete years (2021, 2023, 2024), Q3 performance was weakest. Instead, use Q2/Q3 learning, testing, and incremental optimization, then scale in Q1, where performance has historically been best.

Unlock past ORBIT insights

How ORBIT Works (And Why It’s Different)

ORBIT normalizes performance across different advertiser goals—whether that’s target CAC, desired ROAS, or cost per qualified lead. This allows direct comparison across campaign types, something download-based rankings can’t provide.

The difference:
Many tracking tools tell you who’s advertising and estimate spend, count ad occurrences, or measure downloads and reach.

ORBIT shows which podcasts made money and which ones didn’t.
We factor in what advertisers paid, what they were trying to achieve, how it was measured, including survey-based attribution data, and whether the investment delivered ROI. That’s the difference between counting impressions and measuring profit.

Our methodology:

Minimum 3 distinct advertisers per show
Minimum 3 paid drops per advertiser
At least 50% of placements must exceed advertiser goals
12-month rolling analysis updated monthly
Attribution-normalized across pixels, codes, URLs, and modeling

For Chief Audio Officers

ORBIT eliminates guesswork from podcast planning:

De-risk initial buys by seeing which shows have proven track records with similar advertisers
Optimize faster with normalized performance data across attribution models
Find hidden gems before they become expensive tier-1 shows
Break category assumptions with data that shows where your customers actually listen
Scale with confidence, knowing which placements consistently deliver ROI

The era of buying podcast ads based on download numbers is over. ORBIT shows you which shows drive performance, before you spend a dollar.

“This is what happened when real companies spent real money. If you want to know which podcasts work, start here.”
— Dan Granger, CEO, Oxford Road

Subscribe to The Influencer for monthly ORBIT updates

ORBIT: The Oxford Road Benchmark Intelligence Tool

Here’s What $1.6 Billion in Performance Data Actually Reveals.

The first podcast rankings based on ROI, not downloads. Built on real campaign results from hundreds of advertisers.

After more than a decade of development, Oxford Road is unveiling ORBIT: a first-of-its-kind Benchmark Intelligence Tool built on real campaign outcomes from across the industry.

ORBIT aggregates over $1.6 billion in verified podcast spend, across hundreds of advertisers and 120+ genres, then normalizes it into one question: What actually worked?

It doesn’t tell you which podcasts are popular. It tells you which ones drive ROI. Which ones convert. Which ones are worth the check you’re about to write.

October 2025 ORBIT Rankings

Below are the Top 15 Performing Podcasts in October 2025, ranked by advertiser results over the previous 12 months.
These are the shows that consistently outperformed benchmarks and delivered measurable ROI.

What ORBIT Reveals

Big reach ≠ big results: Joe Rogan and most tier-1 mega-shows didn’t crack the Top 15. Only 3 of the top performers (20%) are household-name podcasts. Advertisers systematically overpay for reach while ignoring shows that deliver better returns.
Comedy and politics dominate. 11 of the top 15 performers are comedy or news/politics shows—the exact categories many advertisers deliberately avoid due to brand safety concerns. Controversial content, when aligned with brand values, drives action.
Stop buying your own industry. We tested it: Tech companies don’t perform better on tech podcasts. Finance brands don’t win on business shows. There’s no statistically significant lift from matching your industry to your genre. Your customers listen to the same shows everyone else does: comedy, true crime, politics. The genre silo is costing you discoveries.
Faith-based shows overperform. Religious podcasts, particularly Christianity-focused content, rank in the top 6 genres for consistent ROI across multiple verticals—a finding impossible to surface without normalized, goal-based data

See the Top 15 Performing Comedy Podcasts from November 2025

How ORBIT Works (And Why It’s Different)

The difference:
Many tracking tools tell you who’s advertising and estimate spend, count ad occurrences, or measure downloads and reach

Our methodology:

Minimum 3 distinct advertisers per show
Minimum 3 paid drops per advertiser
At least 50% of placements must exceed advertiser goals
12-month rolling analysis updated monthly
Attribution-normalized across pixels, codes, URLs, and modeling

For Chief Audio Officers

ORBIT eliminates guesswork from podcast planning:

De-risk initial buys by seeing which shows have proven track records with similar advertisers
Optimize faster with normalized performance data across attribution models
Find hidden gems before they become expensive tier-1 shows
Break category assumptions with data that shows where your customers actually listen
Scale with confidence, knowing which placements consistently deliver ROI

The era of buying podcast ads based on download numbers is over. ORBIT shows you which shows drive performance, before you spend a dollar.

“This is what happened when real companies spent real money. If you want to know which podcasts work, start here.”
— Dan Granger, CEO, Oxford Road

Subscribe to The Influencer for monthly ORBIT updates

So What is a Podcast? We Polled Over 4,000 People, Launched a Docuseries, and May Have Started a Revolution.

What’s a Podcast?: The Revolution Redefined

Twenty years ago, “What’s a podcast?” was an innocent question—asked with curiosity, maybe confusion. Today, it’s a loaded one, with real consequences for creators, platforms, advertisers, and the future of the medium itself.

“ Why does the definition of a podcast even matter? If we don’t define it clearly, we leave it to others to decide.”

Dan Granger (CEO, Oxford Road & Veritone One)

That’s why we’re taking the question head-on with two major releases this week:

In collaboration with Edison Research we surveyed over 4,000 Americans, and interviewed 30+ creators, executives, and thought leaders to propose a clear, inclusive, and actionable definition of podcasting. This is more than semantics—it’s about protecting the open, intimate, creator-first medium we all believe in.

Download the White Paper Here

In this new three-part documentary series, hosted by Allyson Marino (Founder, Lipstick & Vinyl), we trace the evolution of podcasting from pirate radio roots to today’s billion-dollar ecosystem.

️Episode 1: The Genesis – The Accidental Revolution (2004-2013)

From MP3 uploads by the great Robin Williams to Adam Carolla’s marketing test runs, we explore the DIY spirit that launched a media movement.

Featuring Ira Glass, Adam Carolla, Leo Laporte, and more.

Episode 2: The Explosion – Mainstream and the Pod-Demic (2014-2022)

Serial broke podcasting wide open—and brands, platforms, and creators flooded in. Then came the COVID boom, and eventually, a sobering correction.

Featuring Bryan Barletta, Pete Birsinger, the Meiselas brothers, and more.

Episode 3: The Crossroads – Identity Crisis and the Future (2023-Present)

With the rise of video podcasts and closed platforms, the power has shifted. Can we protect the creator-led, listener-first DNA of podcasting while embracing growth?

Featuring Guy Raz, James Cridland, Dan Franks, AJ Feliciano, and more.

Watch Here

Listen Here: Spotify

Listen Here: Apple

Help Shape the Future

We’re not here to gatekeep—we’re here to rally. Podcasting has always thrived when creators, platforms, and advertisers build together.

So we’re inviting YouTube, Spotify, Apple, and others to help create a shared definition, an open attribution framework, and a future where the medium remains open, inclusive, and built to last.

Sign the Petition Here

Podcasting has never been just another media channel. It’s personal. It’s powerful. And it’s ours to protect.

“This is what made podcasts special. And this is what we must preserve—lest we find ourselves defined out of existence.”

Dan Granger (CEO, Oxford Road & Veritone One)