Podcasting

How do you describe a podcast? 4,819 Americans tell us what they think.

/ Audience Research, Audio Research, Audio Update, Podcasting
define a podcast

 “If it works with your eyes closed, it’s a podcast.”   I really like this “short version” of the recently released AMP Accords definithttps://signalhillinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/1-300×113.pngion of a podcast. The long version is more technical, but no less useful. I like this short version both because it’s simple, and because it pithily captures what is most pertinent […]

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Audio on the Move Report Shows YouTube Is Changing the Canadian Audio Landscape

/ Audio Research, Audio Update, Podcasting, Video Podcasting

Canadians still love audio. This is true despite the apparent consumer preference for video, and growing public concern about supposed addictions to short-form video and an associated shortening of attention spans. In fact, 90% of Canadians aged 12+ listened to some form of audio yesterday, including AM/FM radio, streaming music, music on YouTube, audio or

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New Benchmarks Compare Brand Lift Between Audio and Video Podcast Ads, and More

/ Advertising research, Audio Research, Audio Update, Brand Lift Study, Branded Podcasts, Ethnographic Research, Podcasting, Qualitative Research, Video Podcasting

In 2023, when YouTube established its beachhead as the most-used podcast platform, the Signal Hill Insights team measured brand lift for exactly zero video podcasts that year. Just a year later, in 2024, video was included in 24% of our podcast studies.  Responding to the clear needs of the marketplace, in April 2025 we formally

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How to Use Audience Data to Grow Your Podcast or Network

/ Audience Research, Audio Update, Podcasting
audience data

Most of us in the podcast industry are very focused on content, for good and obvious reasons. That’s the beating heart of podcasting. But a content-centric mindset can actually be a barrier to audience development. While it’s true that audiences pick shows based upon the content, the factors driving this choice are much more complex

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Prime Time is Podcast Time: Smart TVs and Podcasts in the UK

/ Audio Research, Audio Update, Podcasting, Video Podcasting
smart tv podcast

For podcasting, smart TVs are delivering on the lost promise of smart speakers. Essentially, that promise was a simple, inexpensive appliance that would let people listen to podcasts throughout their home, without being tethered to a smartphone, headphones, or computer.  But, today, we’ve seen the smart TV eclipse the smart speaker for podcast consumption in

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Redefining what’s a “hit” podcast. But does it even matter?

/ Audience Research, Audio Update, Brand Lift Study, Content Testing, Podcasting, Video Podcasting
hit podcast

What does it mean to be a “hit” podcast? And is this even a useful concept? To dig into this, we’re going to attempt to rightsize our perspective of podcast audience sizes. But first, a question about the one podcast that very likely qualifies as a “hit.” Think about the podcast that has for years

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“Vanity Metrics Are Dead” and More Takeaways for Podcasting from Branded Content Days 2026

/ Audio Update, Branded Podcasts, Podcasting
branded content

“Vanity metrics are dead.” I don’t think anyone would be surprised if I said this was heard on stage at a podcasting event. But in this case these words came out of the mouth of Sara Badler, Chief Advertising Officer, North America for The Guardian, at Branded Content Days NYC 2026. The event brought together

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Podcasting’s Evolution Takes On SXSW: Six Takeaways from Podcast Movement Evolutions

/ Audio Update, Podcasting
Podcast Movement 2026

For the first time, Podcast Movement Evolutions landed alongside SXSW in Austin—an alignment that felt less like a scheduling coincidence and more like a signal (pun intended) of where the industry is headed. Our CEO, Paul Riismandel, and VP of Research, Matt Hird, were on the ground across all three days, tracking the conversations that

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Apple’s Video Podcast Impact: What the Audience Data Says

/ Audience Research, Audio Update, Podcasting, Video Podcasting
Apple video podcast

After a brief period in which “video podcasts versus audio podcasts” was not the main news story in the podcast industry space, Apple has reinvigorated the discussion by introducing a new method for viewing video podcasts. The HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) method certainly sounds like an improvement over previous methods of watching video in Apple

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Brand Lift Is the Incrementality Measure Brands Are Looking For

/ Audio Update, Brand Lift Study, Branded Podcasts, Podcasting
incremental brand measurement

It’s table stakes to measure the outcome of an ad campaign. How did it shift awareness and perception of a brand? What actions, like a click or purchase, did it drive?  But how do we isolate a campaign’s outcomes, with confidence? No attribution signal or metric is ever 100% deterministic. That is, while we can

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