The marketer's guide to podcast advertising.

546 million podcast listeners. $3 billion in U.S. ad spend projected for 2026. A format with higher engagement than TV, social, and display. Here is what you need to know about the shows, the audiences, and what it actually costs to get in.

U.S. ad spend (2026)
$3B+
Global listeners
546M
YoY growth
12.4%
Ad listen-through rate
84–94%

The three shows everyone is listening to.

The biggest podcasts in the world by reach, and why advertisers keep coming back to them.

Comedy / Talk

The Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan · Spotify

Still the most-listened podcast on Spotify and a consistent top-3 globally. Three-to-four hour long-form interviews with anyone from scientists to comedians to sitting politicians. The audience is enormous, male-skewing 25-44, and unusually loyal.

Spotify Exclusive100M+ listeners
News

The Daily

Michael Barbaro · NYT / Spotify / Apple

The New York Times' flagship podcast. 20-minute daily news briefings that reach a highly educated, high-income audience. Consistently top-3 on Apple Podcasts. A reliable pre-roll play for brands targeting news-engaged adults.

Daily · ~20 min2M+ daily listeners
Society / Self-Help

The Mel Robbins Podcast

Mel Robbins

The number one education podcast globally. Research-backed life and career advice with over 3 million monthly downloads. Strongly female-skewing 30-50, affluent, and highly purchase-intent driven. One of the best CPM values in the format.

Weekly · 60 min3M+ monthly downloads

Shows worth knowing, by category.

The top shows in each genre, with the audience profile and advertiser angle that matters.

N
news
Highest weekday reach · premium CPMs
01
The Daily
New York Times

The benchmark news podcast. Two million daily listeners, consistently top-3 Apple Podcasts. Educated, high-income audience that listens first thing in the morning.

High CPMPre-roll plays well35-54 · affluent
02
Up First
NPR

12-minute daily news briefing from NPR. Huge morning-commute audience, broad demo, and one of the most trusted voices in audio. Strong brand-safety profile.

Brand safeHigh trustBroad demo
03
The Journal
Wall Street Journal

Business and financial news in 20 minutes. Spotify-distributed with WSJ's subscriber base. Financial services, B2B, and fintech brands perform especially well here.

B2B-friendlyBusiness audienceHHI $150K+
TC
true crime
Highest binge rate · loyal female audience
01
Crime Junkie
audiochuck

The defining true crime podcast. Dominated by women 25-44, with one of the highest listen-through rates in all of podcasting. Direct response brands love it for its devoted, purchase-intent audience.

Top listen-throughDirect responseWomen 25-44
02
My Favorite Murder
Georgia Hardstark & Karen Kilgariff

Comedy-infused true crime. A fiercely engaged community of self-described "Murderinos," predominantly millennial women. Merchandise, events, and cult loyalty make this audience unusually responsive.

Community-drivenMillennial womenHigh engagement
03
The Binge Cases
Sony Music Entertainment

Sony's premium true crime network. High production quality, serialized storytelling, and a consistently top-charting presence on Apple Podcasts through 2026.

Premium networkSerialized formatApple top-10
C
comedy
Largest total audience · best for awareness plays
01
Pardon My Take
Barstool Sports

Sports comedy with a massive male 18-34 audience. One of the most-downloaded shows in the country. Brands in beer, finance, DTC, and food all find strong performance here.

Sports-adjacentMen 18-34High volume
02
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
Conan O'Brien

One of the most consistently charting comedy podcasts on Apple and Spotify. Educated, broadly appealing 25-54 audience. High listen-through rate and strong brand recall for host-read placements.

Host-read strongBroad 25-54High recall
03
Armchair Expert
Dax Shepard

Long-form celebrity and expert interviews with a warm, inquisitive tone. 500K+ monthly listeners who skew educated millennial. Strong mid-roll performance for lifestyle and wellness brands.

Mid-roll strongMillennial educatedLifestyle brands
S
society
Fastest-growing demo · Gen Z and millennial women
01
Call Her Daddy
Alex Cooper

Over 10 million monthly listeners. Candid conversations about relationships, culture, and celebrity. One of the most-followed shows globally. Gen Z and millennial women who over-index on purchase decisions in beauty, wellness, and lifestyle.

Top global reachWomen 18-34Gen Z reach
02
We Can Do Hard Things
Glennon Doyle

Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle on relationships, mental health, and modern life. A top-10 Apple Podcasts fixture with a deeply engaged, female-skewing audience that trusts host recommendations at an unusually high rate.

High trustWomen 30-50Apple top-10
03
SmartLess · Celebrity Interviews
Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett

Surprise celebrity guest format with three beloved hosts. One of the most consistently charting comedy-society shows. Broad 25-54 demo, high household income, and strong brand recall for integrated host reads.

Broad demo25-54 · high HHIStrong recall
B
business
Highest CPMs · decision-maker audience
01
Diary of a CEO
Steven Bartlett

Consistently the top business podcast on Apple globally. Long-form interviews with founders, operators, and scientists. Audience skews entrepreneurial 28-45 with above-average household income.

Apple #1 BusinessFounders / operatorsHigh HHI
02
How I Built This
Guy Raz

Origin stories of the world's most recognizable brands. A prestige listen for entrepreneurs and marketers. Advertiser brand safety is extremely high and audience intent is purchase-leaning.

Brand safeEntrepreneursPrestige CPM
03
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss

Over a billion total downloads. Long-form interviews with elite performers across business, sports, and science. One of the most affluent podcast audiences in existence. Commands premium CPMs across all placements.

Premium CPMAffluent audience1B+ total downloads
H
health
Fastest-growing CPM category in podcasting
01
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Mel Robbins

The number one education podcast globally. Research-backed mental health, habit, and performance content. 3 million monthly downloads. Pharmaceutical and supplement brands have migrated significant spend here from linear TV.

Global #1 EducationWomen 30-50High purchase intent
02
Huberman Lab
Andrew Huberman

Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman on sleep, performance, and brain health. Exceptionally loyal listener base with high trust in host recommendations. Supplement and health tech brands are the dominant category.

Host-read premiumSupplement brandsHigh trust score
03
On Purpose
Jay Shetty

Mindfulness and purposeful living. One of the most globally distributed wellness podcasts. Consistently top-5 on Apple. Appeals to a female-skewing audience actively seeking lifestyle improvement and product recommendations.

Global reachWellness brandsApple top-5
31%
Host-read lift over produced ads

Host-read ads outperform producer-read ads by 31% in purchase rate. The host's voice is the product.

2.5x
Engagement vs. social media ads

Podcast ads generate 2.5x the engagement of social media ads. Attention is the scarcest resource in advertising.

~89%
Direct buy dominant

Per the IAB/PwC U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study, programmatic accounts for roughly 11% of podcast ad revenue — compared to 87% across the rest of digital media. Podcasting has always been a direct-buy market, and the best inventory still is. Show-level sponsorships, host-reads, and integrated placements are bought person to person, not through an exchange.

About floodlight

We buy streaming audio across every major network.

We plan and run streaming audio campaigns across Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, and the programmatic audio exchanges. If you want to get your brand in front of podcast listeners, we can build the plan.

01
Show selection

We match your audience profile to the right shows, networks, and placements. Genre, demo, CPM, and format all factor in before a dollar gets committed.

02
Host-read and programmatic

We manage both sides of the market. Direct host-read partnerships for trust and performance. Programmatic for scale and efficiency. The right mix depends on your goals.

03
Full-funnel measurement

Promo codes, vanity URLs, pixel attribution, and brand lift studies. You see exactly which shows drove which outcomes, not just impressions.