Podnews’ James Cridland Returns to The Media Roundtable; Campaign Performance Measurement Debated and Solved; Spotify Shakes Things Up

This week on the Media Roundtable: Special Edition, the agents of influence are sifting through Spotify news, next-level AI ads, the demise of exclusivity, and the main event: the battle of the KPIs: ROAS vs. CPA. Grab your popcorn–let’s dive in.

The new show format continues this week with Oxford Road’s Dan Granger and James Cridland (Podnews, Podcast Business Journal) breaking down the biggest news in the media world alongside Ricardo Martinez and Charisse Miller.

For the second half of the episode, we transition to Jennifer Laine, who attempts to wrangle a panel of Oxford “Roadies,” including Dan Granger, Kyle Jelinek, Giles Martin, Ricardo Martinez, and Charise Miller, to answer the age-old question; “how do we track success?”

On everyone’s mind:

• Megan’s Out, Trevor’s In – After 12 episodes and a $20M upfront payment, Megan Markle’s exclusive show is ending on Spotify. Up next, a Trevor Noah podcast (with no exclusivity or upfront payment). Does this signal a sea change for the industry? If so, it could help lower advertiser CPMs.
• “Nice Blue Shirt” -Joe Rogan -Adtech company A Million Ads announces an AI-powered ad product with the power to change fundamental parts of ads based on data triggers–like a synth host voice commenting on our clothing from our purchase history. Creepy, cool, or just the next mail merge? All of the above.
• There’s Probably A Patreon – From Pew Research: Almost a third of top-ranked podcasts have a paid subscription option, and around the same amount sell merch. How does a diversified revenue approach affect the host-advertiser relationship?
• ROAS vs. CPA – Which should guide your dollars? Return on Ad Spend or Cost Per Acquisition? The wrong KPI means leaving money on the table or lighting it on fire. Enter the cage match for the most exciting KPI fight ever recorded on audio. Learn the hidden pitfalls and strengths of ROAS and CPA so you can make better choices.

Short on time? A recap of each topic is shared below, but for industry insights you won’t get anywhere else (and to develop your own spicy take on the ROAS vs. CPA), listen to the full episode by clicking the link below.

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The Classifieds

Gen Z Network Debuts Terrified Tik Toker

Brat TV is an emerging network featuring Tik Tok creators in their podcast debuts. Their newest production is a welcome addition for Gen Z and LGBTQIA+ audiences and features interviews with all the trendiest online creators. Gay and Afraid is hosted by Eric Sedeño, an established internet celebrity and IRL BFF, for a loyal following of 850k. Every week the show features an in-depth interview with a guest from the most niche, underground internet platforms. Full of camp, broad comedy, and inside jokes, you’ll love learning more about your favorite creators for the first time. Brat TV has been a great overall performer for our DTC female skew clients targeting a younger demographic. Don’t be afraid to click the link below for more details.

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You Should SURely Sponsor This Show

We’re still seeing the Vanderpump Rules cast, old and new, climbing the podcast charts one by one. With the explosive Scandavol still in progress and Randall’s misdeeds outlined in a new special, everyone wants the skinny straight from the horse’s mouth. Kristen Doute was a cast member on the show from 2013 through 2020 and even dated Tom Sandoval while starring on the show. Now she’s using her Cloud 10 exclusive podcast to speak her mind, air out the sordid details, and interview her former co-stars on the whys, the whens, and the hows. Outside of recent events, Kristin spends most episodes conversing about dating, relationship advice, sexual health, and the reality TV landscape. Don’t be a hashtag, girl, be a person by clicking the link below.

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In Case You Missed It

Spotify, Spotify, Spotify

The Megan Markle podcast is off Spotify due to a lack in performance, yet they signed Mr. Trevor Noah to the team on a NON-EXCLUSIVE basis. Is this the end of exclusive content, and more importantly, the end of celebrities getting multi-million upfront deals site unseen? Our panel suggests it may be.

Next, Spotify was fined five million dollars by the Swedish Data Protection folks (not the official title) for not adequately explaining how they use personal customer data. This led the panel to discuss all the fantastic and scary things happening with your data.

But the biggest news coming out of the Shopify camp wasn’t discussed on our podcast. This week, we all learned that Podsights is “Shopify Audio Analytics.” We all know it was a matter of time, but the bigger surprise is the cost. Shopify hired Larry Miller for their pricing strategy because now it’s freeeeeeeeeeee. So far, it seems like business as usual, but it will be interesting to see how the market responds. Will networks back out of Spotify’s tracking, or will it become the standard?

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Check Out My Profile

Pew Research examined the 451 top-ranked podcasts over the past year and has published their findings in a recent massive report providing countless stats on the medium as a whole, including:

• True Crime is the most common topic
• 15% focus on news
• Almost a third have paid subscriptions
• Just 8% of top-ranking podcasts are exclusive to one platform

Check out the full report using the link below or the podcast for the hot takes.

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Aye Aye AI

The robots are taking over. A Million Ads (AMA) has launched Studio.ai, an AI-powered product that generates multiple creative iterations in seconds. The solution allows advertisers to select relevant data triggers for highly-personalized ad experiences and is available globally for advertisers on audio platforms like Spotify, Pandora, Acast, and iHeart. At its core, this all sounds great, but it begs the question of credibility. It’s one thing to play around with a general VO artist’s voice in an ad, but what about celebrities and show hosts? It’s about to get weird.

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This Week in Great Podcast Reads

Love Murder, Love Shopify

There’s no substitute for a show host sharing their personal experience using a product when it comes to ad reads, especially when they are part of the brand’s target audience. Jessie Pray and Andie Cassette, hosts of the true-crime podcast Love Murder, dive deep into the e-commerce platform Shopify this week, showing how their narrative talents also apply to product endorsements. This pair certainly have a knack for transporting a listener, as can be witnessed from the many gruesome tales shared on their podcast.
In this instance, though, they put us in the shoes of a small business owner, taking us through all the emotions one experiences, from worries about order management to feeling overwhelmed. As a small business owner herself, Andie can bring another level of authenticity. If you’re looking for a podcast that can demonstrate that emotional connection with a brand, Love Murder is the way to go.

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