What’s next for podcasting? Five industry leaders weigh in on AI and measurement
Over the past decade podcasting has matured into a mainstream advertising channel. But as audiences continue to grow, the industry is grappling with two questions that will shape its next phase of development: is measurement still holding podcasting back, and what role will AI play in production, discovery and monetisation?
In the second instalment of this three-part series examining the future of podcasting, The Media Leader spoke to industry leaders about the opportunities and challenges facing this evolving channel.
Contributors include:
- Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom
- Bryan Barletta, partner at Sounds Profitable and president of Podcast Movement
- Rachel Holsgrove, director of digital operations at Octave
- Dan Box, head of podcasts at The Times and The Sunday Times
- Lucie Cave, chief creative officer of podcasts and commercial content at Bauer Media Group
Is measurement still a challenge for podcasts? How can that be solved?
The bigger question isn’t whether podcasting can be measured. It’s whether continuing to focus on measurement is the best use of the industry’s attention.
Stuart Last, Audioboom: “Measurement is still one of the biggest challenges for the podcast industry because advertisers, finance teams and C-suites today fundamentally assess success through data, reporting and measurable outcomes.
“The issue is that there isn’t one unified measurement system that everybody works to, and realistically I’m not sure there ever will be, given how fragmented the ecosystem is. Different platforms have different priorities, methodologies and commercial interests, and in many ways, it suits some of them not to align too closely with competitors.
“That said, things are improving. We’re seeing greater transparency across platforms and a broader shift towards more open podcasting. Spotify opening up its platform more widely over recent months is a good example of that evolution, and there is increasing pressure across the industry for more consistency and clearer reporting standards.
Podcast measurement proposal claims standardisation could unlock $1bn in ad spend
“At the same time, advertisers are also becoming more sophisticated in how they evaluate podcasts. It is no longer just about raw download numbers. Brands increasingly want to understand attention, engagement, audience loyalty and so on. Podcasts perform incredibly strongly on those metrics when measured properly.
“The next stage for the industry is finding better ways to communicate that value into a language brands and media buyers can easily compare when placed alongside other advertising channels.”
Rachel Holsgrove, Octave: “Measurement remains a challenge for the entire industry. However, we are already finding ways to align metrics via retargeting from audio to display/VOD and vice versa which pinpoint the engagement increase when utilising the audio environment.
“Attribution will also continue to prove that podcasts are an effective direct response medium. Applying these metrics is a game changer for unlocking more spend for both podcasts and the wider audio space and that’s why we’re really keen to work with industry partners to develop mutually beneficial solutions for advertisers.”
Bryan Barletta, Sounds Profitable: “The industry has spent years building standards, improving attribution, expanding targeting capabilities, and developing measurement solutions. At this point, podcasting has largely met the market where it needs to. We’ve expanded beyond downloads into brand lift studies, attribution, search, video, influencer marketing, and cross-platform measurement. In many cases, we’re now on par with, or outperforming, other media channels.
“The bigger question isn’t whether podcasting can be measured. It’s whether continuing to focus on measurement is the best use of the industry’s attention.
“We already know podcast advertising works. Sounds Profitable’s The Advertising Landscape 2025: Attention and Trust found that 86% of heavy podcast consumers recalled hearing a podcast advertisement in the past seven days. That’s the highest ad recall among measured media platforms, outperforming TV, radio, YouTube, and social media.
“At the same time, advertising investment continues to flow into podcasting. Revenue growth isn’t slowing because advertisers can’t measure podcasts. If anything, the industry’s challenge now is making better use of the tools, data, and signals that already exist.
“That’s not to say measurement stops evolving. As podcast consumption expands across YouTube, Spotify, connected TVs, social platforms, and emerging formats, the technology will continue to improve. Apple’s adoption of HLS for video podcasts is one example of how the infrastructure supporting podcasting is modernising while preserving the openness of the ecosystem.
“The industry has already proven effectiveness enough to capitalise on the next stage of growth that the medium is headed towards. The opportunity now is to spend less time debating whether podcasting works and more time helping advertisers, creators, and publishers capitalise on the value that’s already being demonstrated.”
Lucie Cave, Bauer Media: “Measurement has improved significantly, but real challenges remain – particularly around attribution, standardisation and proving commercial impact in the way advertisers expect from other digital channels. Downloads matter, but they’re only one part of the picture now. We should be measuring impact as a whole: audio consumption, video views, social engagement, live audiences, retention and commercial conversion. Video gets you found; connection is what makes people stay.
“As publishers, we need to get much better at consistently telling that story, because podcasting delivers extraordinary engagement and trust. Host-read advertising continues to outperform precisely because listeners build genuine relationships with talent. The measurement frameworks need to catch up – capturing quality of attention, not just quantity of impressions.”
Will AI fundamentally change podcast production, distribution and discovery?
What AI won’t replace is human connection – the feeling that somebody understands your life and is speaking directly to you.
Dan Box, The Times and The Sunday Times: “AI has already changed podcasting at every level from production, through distribution, discovery and commercialisation.
“Just at a production level, we’ve been working with AI systems and AI in our systems for years. For us, I don’t see AI as a fundamental change as much as a way to enhance and expand everything we already do.
“There have been game-changing uses of AI elsewhere, including the appearance of entirely AI-generated podcasts like The Epstein Files. Some of these have exposed serious flaws in the reliance on this technology, however, particularly in regards to journalistic ethics, integrity and media law. Human-powered journalism is always going to be better at those, and our greatest power at The Times is the creativity and responsibility of our reporters and producers.
“The fundamental building block for us is always going to be the person, not the machine.”
Lucie Cave, Bauer Media: “In many ways, it already is. Transcription, editing, clipping, metadata, localisation – production workflows are changing rapidly. But the bigger shift may come much earlier in the process.
“AI has real potential to improve commissioning decisions, sharpen audience understanding and transform discovery — identifying whitespace faster and making smarter bets before significant investment is made. The businesses that win won’t necessarily be making the most content. They’ll be making better decisions about what to make at all.
“What AI won’t replace is human connection – the feeling that somebody understands your life and is speaking directly to you. Talent chemistry, editorial judgement, cultural instinct – that’s still the gold dust.”
Rachel Holsgrove, Octave: “AI is already upon us and in many ways streamlining ways of working which can of course be a positive for production, however human interaction will still extremely important in this space.
“For distribution and discovery there is already a heightened level of personalisation that AI has assisted with in this space through AI podcast playlist creation which may cause users to discover other podcasts that align with their current interests and listening behaviour.”
For more insights into the podcast market, Adwanted Consulting has released its updated Media Pulse: Podcasts report, examining the UK podcast market from both the commercial perspective and the consumer view.