This Week's Influencer: Giles Martin Leads an Expert Attribution Panel; Podscribe Rights YouTube's Wrongs; Give Host Reads More Time, and More…

Attribution remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges, prompting many marketers to waste as much as half of their budget. To get expert advice on how to deploy that spend more wisely, you need to check out this week’s installment of The Media Roundtable.

At this year’s CAO Summit, Giles Martin (EVP Strategy, Oxford Road) moderated a panel of experts focused on wrangling attribution with confidence. Sharing the stage with Giles were three bona fide attribution all-stars:

• Kezia Koo ( Fractional Growth Marketing Leader; ex-Indeed, Chegg, Amazon)

•  Brad Miller (SVP Marketing, SelectQuote)

• Jon Pease (Sr. Dir. Growth Marketing, MasterClass)

Together, they talked about attribution stacks, what MMMs can (and can’t) do, and the search for allies. Let’s dig in.

“MMM is like the mullet of measurement. It’s back in style, but only because everything else stopped working.” – Jon Pease (Sr. Dir. Growth Marketing, MasterClass)

Stacks on Stacks – Successful attribution needs an attribution stack. No single approach is enough, but our experts found attribution success with varied methods, including vanity URLs, HYDHAUs, pixels, geo tests, clean rooms, and MMMs. No marketer had the same attribution stack, but everyone used at least three methods. That doesn’t mean you need to copy another company’s stack. It just means that if you’re relying on a single source of truth, it helps to have a second opinion (or at least a tie-breaking vote).

MMM’s True Purpose – Media Mix Modeling (MMM) doesn’t need to be a marketing oracle. Instead, think of it as a smoke detector: A method that sounds alarms on inefficiencies in search and highlights underinvesting. Those MMM alarms can lead to changes, but you need to confirm any improvements through another attribution source.

Find Allies – Whatever attribution approach you’re advocating for, you’ll need allies outside of marketing to back you up. Make friends with experts in data science, finance, and beyond. Some attribution efforts are slow and costly, but worth it. They’ll never be greenlit, though, if the marketing department is the only supporter. So find people who want the same thing as you, but who see problems differently, as their recommendations will carry more weight.

For more insights from marketers winning the attribution war, check out the full episode below.

The Classifieds

 The Antidote to Toxic Bravo Takes

Network: Realm / Episodic Downloads: 10k

Bravo continues to reign supreme in the reality TV world, but it’s clear there’s plenty of toxicity in the fandom. Turtle Time’s  Amy Scarlata and Riley Hamilton cover the full Bravoverse–which includes everything from the Real Housewives franchise to Vanderpump Rules–with warm, nuanced, genuinely funny commentary. The series’ co-hosts are pop culture experts, and their conversations drift naturally into film, books, and general entertainment without ever losing the thread.

The show’s combination of insight and comedy has earned it a devoted following, as evidenced by its popular Patreon. Listeners have invested lots of time and money in Turtle Time, and advertisers who’ve tested the show have seen strong results. If you’re looking for loyal female consumers who love entertainment, we encourage you to test. Click below to enter the Bravoverse.

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The Quiet Work of Living Well 

Network: Pitaya / Episodic Downloads: 42k

This week marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which we’re celebrating in The Influencer with a fresh, vibrant podcast from Mexico: Ad Propositum, a show that seeks to root out the pablum associated with self-help and bring a therapeutic outlook to wellness. Host Efrén Martinez guides listeners through thoughtful topics, including why love hurts even when it isn’t toxic; how guilt in a relationship differs from genuine accountability; and why the belief that love conquers all is quietly damaging.

They’re the kinds of subjects many shows avoid entirely, and Ad Propositum addresses each one with precision and clarity, with most episodes running less than twenty minutes long.  For advertisers looking to break into the Mexican market, Ad Propositum is a beloved and well-regarded option for Q4 testing. Click below and get to the point.

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In Case You Missed It

Podscribe’s Q3 Data Confirms YouTube’s New View Count Is a Mirage

Podscribe’s Q3 2026 report finds public YouTube views running approximately 1.8x Engaged Views per episode released since the measurement change began on August 24th. The report also found that shows with more Apple Podcast ratings relative to their audio reach also recorded higher purchase rates. Episodic buys generated more purchases per impression than impression-based buys, but both delivered a $158 cost per acquisition. Podscribe’s data corroborates what we saw with Bumper: YouTube’s counting change inflates reported views. Insist on Engaged Views for pricing and reporting, rather than paying more because a platform changed its counting rules.

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Cutting Shows After Week One? You’re Leaving Money on the Table

Magellan AI’s analysis of H1 2026 campaigns found host-read ads recorded a 54% higher median site response rate than produced ads. The analysis also found that podcasts with a video component recorded higher lead and purchase conversion rates than RSS-only shows, and that purchase response continued well beyond the first week. The takeaway: Don’t rely on first-week results alone to judge a show’s performance. Advertisers who cut shows before response has had time to develop risk walking away from investments that are still delivering.

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Audio’s Most Loyal Audience Is Listening, But You’re Ignoring Them

iHeartMedia is urging advertisers to connect with Hispanic and Latino consumers through cultural identity and shared experiences rather than simply translating ads into Spanish. The company points to a U.S. Latino population of 68 million, with adults spending about five hours a day listening to audio. It also cites research showing that 78% of Hispanic consumers say they are more likely to try a new product after hearing about it from a favorite radio or podcast host. Hispanic consumers deserve more than an annual reminder during Hispanic Heritage Month. Marketers should build this audience into year-round growth plans, with the investment and creative attention its buying power warrants.

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#SaveTheLiveReads

Bert Kreischer Lost 50 Pounds – Ro Gets the Credit

Bert Kreischer, host of Something’s Burning, delivers this week’s #STLR with an unusually personal endorsement for Ro. Kreischer opens up the ad by talking about his own weight-loss journey. Rather than simply discussing Ro’s offerings, Bert makes the message personal from the start, urging people not to automatically write off treatment because of cost, knowing that many fear insurance won’t cover this type of care. The read becomes especially compelling when Bert reveals that he’s down 50 pounds and now enjoys working out and living the life he wants.

He also highlights Ro’s free Insurance Checker, which takes the hassle out of figuring out coverage by verifying coverage before a customer makes a purchase. That combination of personal experience and a practical solution makes Ro feel less like a healthcare service and more like a resource Bert genuinely wants his listeners to explore. It’s an honest, direct read with a powerful personal payoff, proving that the right time to start your weight loss journey is now.

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OXFORd In The News

Audacy Wrote Their New Rules of Podcast Advertising – Oxford Road Helped

Audacy released its State of Audio report, “The New Rules of Podcast Advertising,” a 44-page playbook that examines where podcast advertising stands and where it’s headed. Oxford Road is one of three industry experts cited in the report, alongside Adopter Media and Mynt. Oxford Road’s perspective focuses on three major podcasting topics: Why AI threatens the host-audience trust that makes podcast advertising work; where omnichannel opportunities can go next; and how removing measurement barriers can unlock better creative and outcomes. The report also cites the AMP Accords and its measurement chapter as a concrete example of how the industry is stepping up.

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The AMP Accords Just Got Their Next Major Proof of Concept

Podscribe has announced a direct integration with Rumble that will give advertisers real attribution data for host-read, baked-in ads, tracking website visits, conversions, and purchases from Rumble campaigns. The integration uses measurement signals developed through the AMP Accords, the industry framework Oxford Road helped build and launched at this summer’s CAO Summit. Baked-in ads have long been one of the hardest formats to measure with confidence. This partnership is a concrete sign that the AMP Accords are moving from principle to practice, and that the industry is finally building the infrastructure to back them up.

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