Insights

Westwood One is committed to sharing insights to help advertisers and content creators learn more about the podcast consumer, including podcast listener profiles, preferences, and new industry trends and opportunities. 

• Sports AM/FM Radio Soars With Growing Revenue Shares, Eye Popping Streaming Audiences, And An Upscale Audience That’s In The Market For Just About Everything
  February 23, 2026
  Sports-formatted AM/FM radio stations that feature play-by-play broadcasts along with sports talk are on a tear. Revenue shares and station counts are up. Nielsen reports the sports AM/FM radio format is number one in streaming shares among 18-34s and 25-54s. Ranking third of twenty-four AM/FM radio formats in household income, the sports AM/FM radio audience […]
• eMarketer Reports Advertisers Have Difficulty Measuring Audio ROI; Marketers Mistakenly Believe Brand Campaigns Should Be Evaluated With Lower Funnel Measurement, Akin To Testing A Spanish Class With A Calculus Exam
  February 17, 2026
  It’s a classic case of advertiser perception versus marketplace reality. Marketers perceive audio ROI measurement difficulties. Meanwhile, measurement firms churn out study after study documenting audio sales effect. Audio has entered a golden age of measurement with a wide array of firms now quantifying audio sales effect, brand lift, search and site attribution, and creative […]
• A Wide Variety Of AM/FM Radio Programming Formats Reach Travel Intenders; Sports Radio Out Performs for Hotel, Airline, And Cruise Brands
  February 9, 2026
  Audio represents just 4% of the $4 billion dollars of travel category advertising. However, new studies reveal audio should represent a much greater proportion of the travel intenders media plan. The post A Wide Variety Of AM/FM Radio Programming Formats Reach Travel Intenders; Sports Radio Out Performs for Hotel, Airline, And Cruise Brands first appeared […]
• Media Mix Modelers Should Consider Radio As A New Media Channel Due To New As-Run Radio Deliveries Which Are A “Trend Break,” “Stand Alone” Dataset; Modelers Should Not Constrain Current Radio ROI With Historical Performance
  February 2, 2026
  Often media mix models apply “historical guard rails” to constrain ROIs to conform to prior performance ranges. In essence, current ROI performance conforms to the past. This assures a constancy in ROI trending but is improper when a major change in the data quality occurs. The post Media Mix Modelers Should Consider Radio As A […]
• Mind Share Equals Market Share: AM/FM Radio Builds Strong Advertiser Brands In Lake Charles, Louisiana
  January 26, 2026
  With a population of 175,000, Lake Charles is an unrated market that is home to smart advertisers who understand “you have to win the mind to win the market.” A new study from Quantilope, commissioned by the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group®, measured unaided awareness of brands in a wide variety of […]
• Podcast Advertising Is Ideal For Reaching The Ad-Free Subscription Video Audience; Audio Is Also Ideal For Video Streamers to Promote Their Brands, According To Cumulus Media And Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download Fall 2025 Report
  January 20, 2026
  In November of last year, Cumulus Media | Westwood One and Signal Hill Insights released the fifteenth installment of the Podcast Download series. Quantilope conducted an in-depth study of 603 weekly podcast consumers October 8th-21th 2025. The Fall 2025 report highlighted audience trends such as platform preference, content preferences, advertiser usage of podcast advertising, and […]
• NCAA March Madness On Westwood One: Why Sports Play-By-Play Listeners Are More Engaged Than The TV Audience And More Likely To Make Major Purchases
  January 12, 2026
  While the NFL postseason has just wrapped up, marketers are looking ahead to March Madness, a major cultural phenomenon. A series of studies reveal while NCAA March Madness games are available both on TV and AM/FM radio, each broadcast has a very different audience profile. The post NCAA March Madness On Westwood One: Why Sports […]
• Don’t Be Shocked By The Podscribe/Oxford Road Podcast Sales Effect Study That Reveals Audio Ads Beat YouTube Video Ads In Effectiveness
  January 5, 2026
  YouTube podcast views are 18-25% less effective at driving purchases than audio podcast ads, according to a just released study from Oxford Road and Podscribe. Those who closely follow advertising effectiveness results are not surprised. This is the latest in a series of studies that reveal audio ads trump video ads in attentiveness, engagement, and […]
• Q3 2025 Edison “Share Of Ear”: AM/FM Radio Dominates Ad-Supported Audio While Podcast Audiences Age As Older Audiences Surge
  December 8, 2025
  Edison Research’s quarterly “Share of Ear” study is the authoritative examination of time spent with audio in America. The study, in its eleventh year, surveys 4,000 Americans annually to measure daily reach and time spent for all forms of audio. The post Q3 2025 Edison “Share Of Ear”: AM/FM Radio Dominates Ad-Supported Audio While Podcast […]
• Webinar Video: Cumulus Media And Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download – Fall 2025 Report
  November 21, 2025
  Yesterday the Cumulus Podcast Network hosted a webinar highlighting key findings from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download – Fall 2025 Report. The findings included insights on YouTube's place in podcast consumption and discovery, consumer preference for watchable podcasts, and more. The post Webinar Video: Cumulus Media And Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download […]