New audio content from The Daily Show, CBS Sports expands Soccer coverage and a new study of audio ad efficacy?

Paramount Highlights

• CBS News recently launched 48 Hours+ Audio Subscription, a premium true crime subscription service on Apple Podcasts that gives subscribers access to CBS News’ full slate of true crime programming from “48 Hours”
• Original, podcast exclusive episodes are now available in “The Daily Show Ears Edition” podcast feed. The Friday episodes, featuring guest hosts and writers, give fans a true, behind-the-scenes look and offer special insight into the creative process..??
• CBS Sports expanded its industry-leading soccer coverage with “Kickin It,” a weekly show hosted by Kate Abdo and former United States Men's National Team players Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu and Charlie Davies. The engaging pod launched at the end of September, adding a fourth series to the CBS Sports Golazo network, making it the year-round home for soccer fans

Podcast News Highlights

• Ad Results Media has released a study analyzing data of over $80 million in ad spend compared to performance among commercial breaks and found that 2-4 ad per commercial break is optimal in order to maximize ad performance?
• A new study from sonic branding agency amp finds that sonic branding can really make an impact, as Gen Zers can correctly identify brands based on “sonic memes,” with more than half correctly identifying based on a viral sound alone
• Amazon Freevee, Amazon’s FAST service, is launching 3 new free ad-supported channels for podcasting, featuring a range of Wondery’s podcast series focused on True Crime, Sports, and Entertainment & Pop Culture

And so…November.? The month when suddenly the entire industry seems to engage in a wind sprint to get everything done before the holidays.? We at Paramount Audio are engaging in the same sprint so we’ll use that as an excuse to go with a shorter than usual newsletter this week.

(in addition to our new bulleted format and more succinct prose)

However, in the spirit of the season (and corporate synergy) wanted to share the Raizes family Halloween costume as selected by our son.? A cos-played version of Paw Patrol.??

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And now, the news….

Ad Results Media Reveals Research On How Many Ads Are Optimal for Podcasters?

• The conclusion is that fewer ads tend to perform better, with commercial breaks that have five or more ads seeing a significant drop-off in performance (30% worse)?
• The study reveals podcast ads performed best when there were only two ads in a commercial break?- They performed 12% better than breaks that included three or four ads according to ARM- There was no significant difference in performance in ad breaks with three or four ads
• “Overall, our study suggests that advertisers should aim for no more than 2-4 ads per commercial break in order to maximize ad performance,” says ARM, which is among the biggest audio ad buying agencies with clients including big podcast users such as BetterHelp, ZipRecruiter, Fan Duel, Allbirds, and Stamps.com
• Listener fatigue is among the possible explanations for the worsening performance with more ads. There is also the risk that listeners may perceive the podcast as being more commercial and less valuable if it has too many ads
• For super-listeners – those who listen to 5 or more hours per week – the results showed that more than one in five (22%) agree there are “way too many” ads on podcasts, which was more than twice the 10% who said that in 2019
• The silver lining in the ad data was that super listeners believe podcast ads are more relevant than in the past. They also said they are more willing to consider products and services of podcast advertisers than other media, with three-quarters having visited a website based on a podcast ad and two-thirds have considered or purchased a product based on a podcast ad

Quick thoughts here - listener fatigue is real and making sure that we keep an eye (ear?) on exactly where we place ads, the creative behind them and how we message will be critical to the continued growth of the industry.? At Paramount Pod we continue to explore this space and expect more from us shortly on both ad load as well as the impact of custom creative.

Gen Zers and Sonic Branding?

• Sonic branding agency amp analyzed the sonic branding work of 72 companies that Morning Consult previously found were most popular among Gen Z to see if sound might be making an impact on consumers of that generation
• 75 Gen Zers listened to a handful of brand sounds, several of which have gone viral, like the old Windows XP startup sound and Burger King’s “Whopper Whopper.” More than three-quarters of the respondents (81%) said they recognized viral or meme sounds, compared to 41% who said the same of the non-meme sounds
• Gen Zers correctly named the brand associated with a meme sound without being provided with a list of options to choose from 54% of the time compared to only one-quarter (25%) who were able to do the same with the non-meme sound?
• The highest sonic score was Nintendo’s, at 52.8. PlayStation had the second highest sonic score of Gen Z’s favorite brands, followed by Capri-Sun, Sephora, and KitKat
• Rex Hirschhorn, a research and insights consultant for amp, said, “This age group has this incredible desire to not just listen and be like, ‘Oh yeah, the brand has a sonic identity or a sonic logo.’ Actually, they take it and they make a meme like that. They do what they want with it, they create it, they mix it. It’s self-propelling, really.”

Wondery Launches Podcast Channels on Amazon Freevee?

• Wondery is putting its podcasts into three free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels on Freevee, also owned by its parent company Amazon, in a bid to reach a new audience for their podcast shows
• Wondery will publish the same podcast video content it distributes on YouTube on the Freevee FAST channels and at the moment, there are currently no plans to create exclusive video for the channels
• Wondery’s three FAST channels will be dedicated to true crime, sports, and entertainment and culture podcasts
• The channels will air a mix of video content, including on-camera recorded interviews, cinemagraphs, animations and moving show artwork from series like “Morbid,” “Business Wars,” “Dr. Death” and “Baby, this is Keke Palmer.”?
• The FAST channels will be available through the Freevee app, and within Fire TV and Prime Video