This Week’s Influencer: The Business of Podcasting 101; Unpacking the Best Travel Podcasts; Rogan’s Latest Deal Details

Podcasting isn’t just a DIY passion project anymore; it’s a full-fledged business ecosystem, complete with sponsors, merch, and serious ROI. And with companies like Netflix and YouTube helping shows reach new audiences, advertisers don’t want to miss out. So how can creators and brands take advantage of podcasting’s new business landscape? On the latest episode of The Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) and Bryan Barletta (Founder, Sounds Profitable) join The Podcast Academy to discuss monetization, the next big moves, and how podcasters can grow their business.

“One of the biggest things that’s changed is that, for a 20-year-old industry, podcasting isn’t just a roll of the dice anymore. It really is a business.” – Bryan Barletta (Founder, Sounds Profitable)

The Power of a Good Portfolio – For years, up to 40% of podcast ad revenue came from the “plug-and-play” method, which gave podcasting platforms direct sales solutions. Now, however, the monetization options are exploding, meaning creators and publishers need an all-encompassing strategy. “If I were a creator, I would have some content behind a paywall,” Dan notes. “But I would not give up my ability to promote that for free in an ad-supported ecosystem.” He also notes potential revenue from live events, merch, and, in some cases, company equity. The takeaway: Explore as many monetization options as possible, though always keep your advertisers’ needs in mind.

Identity Crisis, or Opportunity? – The industry is going through a bit of an identity crisis: What exactly is a podcast? Is it video, or audio, or both? Because we don’t have clear definitions, we don’t always get clear measurement data (as Dan notes: “If you can’t measure the medium, you can’t define it”). The industry needs not only universal metrics, but also the ability to quantify video and live events, and an ecosystem that lets brands make a variety of buys. “If somebody knows that this is a good investment and they can point to an ROI…they’re going to double down,” Dan says. In other words: If we can work through these growing pains, a potential new era for podcasting is just over the horizon.

The Road Ahead – Dan and Bryan agree that podcasting’s near-future depends on more data, specifically performance data from platforms, which can help everyone make more accurate deals. Right now, platforms withhold that information because it’s proprietary info. But agencies need those numbers so we can give advertisers more confidence in podcasting, and free up time that can be better spent focusing on creative, integrations, and more.

Ready for your podcast business to boom? Check out this week’s episode of The Media Roundtable:

The Classifieds

20 Years, 1,000 Episodes, One Big Question

Network: Glassbox Media / Episodic Downloads: 25,000

This Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day, we’re spotlighting shows that view travel as an opportunity to learn about a place from the people who call it home. Our first destination is one of the original travel podcasts. For more than twenty years, and over 1,000 episodes, Amateur Traveler host Chris Christensen has asked the same question: What would a week in a particular destination look like? To find out, he sits down with locals, writers, and guides in order to map itineraries around the world, with a special love for culturally rich travel.

The show has earned a spot in the Podcast Hall of Fame, and Travel+Leisure named Chris its “best independent travel journalist.” His listeners are planners who want every trip detail sorted before they go. If you want to reach them–or if you’re a travel, hospitality, or lifestyle brand–this is your ticket. Click the button below to book it.

Get The Deal

Upgrade Your Getaways, Not Your Budget

Network: Auddy / Episodic Downloads: 640,000

Travel costs increase every year, and our second stop this week is here to help. Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways, a NerdWallet Podcast, is hosted by the company’s travel experts Sally French and Meghan Coyle, who teach listeners how to make every travel dollar go further.

Every Wednesday, the duo pairs a quick roundup of travel industry news with a deep dive on topics like points and miles, credit cards, trip budgeting, and whether to book an Airbnb or a hotel. It’s a natural fit for deal-savvy travelers, and for travel, finance, and rewards brands that want to reach people who want to see the world without overspending. Ready to upgrade? Click the button below.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

Spotify Pays $250 Million for Rogan and Doesn’t Even Get Him Exclusively

Joe Rogan has renewed his multiyear licensing agreement with Spotify in a deal reportedly worth $250 million, although financial terms were not disclosed. The Joe Rogan Experience will remain widely distributed across platforms, continuing the nonexclusive arrangement introduced in 2024. The show has 18 million Spotify followers and has ranked as the most-listened-to podcast in the U.S. since 2019, according to Edison Research. No surprise that the biggest podcast is getting renewed. Notably, Spotify is willing to pay a premium for Rogan without requiring exclusivity; the company clearly recognizes the value of a show that reaches audiences across platforms.

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Audio Is Growing But Not Fast Enough and Here’s Why

WARC forecasts global advertising spend will grow 11.9% to $1.34 trillion in 2026, while audio advertising will increase just 2.5% to $41.9 billion. Within audio, traditional radio spending is projected to decline 1.9% to $25.3 billion, while online audio will grow 9.9% to $16.6 billion. Online audio growth is expected to be moderate, at just 7.5% in 2027, while radio is expected to decline another 3.0%. Declining radio budgets are dragging down overall audio growth. But even online audio is growing more slowly than the broader advertising market. Until marketers have greater confidence in measurement and attribution, audio will likely continue to play catch-up.

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Walmart and Spotify Make Audio More Accountable

Walmart is partnering with Spotify to make its streaming audio and podcast advertising inventory available through Walmart’s demand-side platform. Advertisers can use Walmart’s first-party customer data to target Spotify audiences and measure campaign performance against online and in-store purchases. The integration covers Spotify’s audio, video, and display inventory, with measurement including attributed sales, new customers, and return on ad spend. One way to address audio’s measurement challenge is to connect advertising exposure to actual retail purchases. These are the kinds of business outcomes marketers want to measure, and partnerships like this could help audio compete for a larger share of advertising budgets

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#SaveTheLiveReads

EarnIn Makes Waiting for Payday Less Painful

Sam Tripoli of Tin Foil Hat with Sam Tripoli delivers this week’s #STLR with a direct, relatable endorsement for EarnIn, centered on a frustration many listeners can understand: waiting to access money they’ve already worked hard to earn.

Sam brings the message to life with a personal example, joking about apps and platforms that say deposits will take several business days when he needs his money now. EarnIn offers an alternative, letting eligible users access up to $150 per day of their earnings, with a $1,000 maximum between paychecks.

Sam also highlights the app’s flexible fee structure, noting that tips are optional, standard transfers have no mandatory fees, and expedited transfers cost extra. By pairing a clear explanation of how EarnIn works with his own frustration over delayed payments, Sam makes the service easy to understand and relevant to everyday financial routines. It’s a straightforward read built around a simple idea: accessing money you’ve already earned.

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OXFORd In The News

The CEOs of Biggest Names in Podcasting Just Explained How They Did It

Sounds Profitable featured Dan Granger in a guest article by Fatima Zaidi, who sat down with him, Acast CEO Greg Glenday, and Triton Digital CRO Sharon Taylor at Podcast Movement NYC to explain how their companies reached scale. Dan credited the October 2024 merger between Oxford Road and Veritone One, as well as the integration work that followed, for helping the newly combined company reach its goals. Read the full article HERE.

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Sounds Profitable Just Made Oxford Road’s Case for Us. Again.

Oxford Road also made it into a second Sounds Profitable release this week, this time a guest article from Audacy’s Head of Podcasts, Leah Reis-Dennis, that expands on the State of Audio report. The article pulls Oxford Road’s perspective into its core argument: namely, that protecting host authenticity isn’t a values call; it’s a performance one, and that AI is the most immediate threat to the trust that makes podcast advertising work in the first place.

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