Digital audio ad spend climbs to $51.9 million in March quarter: CRA

Digital audio advertising spend in Australia reached $51.9 million in the March quarter, reflecting a 13% jump over the same period a year ago.

That’s according to IAB Australia’s Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) prepared by PwC.

Industry body Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) reports that podcast advertising surged by 20.7% to $19.8 million in the quarter, while streaming audio spend grew 8.8% to $32.1 million.

This is the first release of quarterly spend data resulting from collaboration between IAB Australia and CRA.

Figures released in February showed ad spend on digital audio totalled $221.2 million in calendar year 2022.

“Digital audio has not only been resilient but is showing strong sustained growth in a tough advertising market,” says CRA Chief Executive Officer Ford Ennals.

“Advertisers are following audiences into podcasts and streaming. With the latest Infinite Dial research confirming Australia is the leading podcast market in the world, we expect online audio to attract an increasing share of ad spend.”

“Radio streaming audiences are also growing strongly and the changes we are making to radio audience measurement to better understand streaming listeners are designed to tap into the digital revenue opportunity.”

The IAB online advertising report showed digital audio accounted for only 4.2% of total general display advertising expenditure in the March quarter.

The radio industry will soon launch its new Radio 360 audience measurement system, aimed at providing more granular data across all platforms of listening.

CRA notes the 2023 Infinite Dial study by Edison Research shows 81% of Australians, or around 18 million people, listen to online audio monthly, up from 78% in 2022 and 56% in 2017. Forty-three per cent listen to a podcast monthly.

The Infinite Dial Australia study provides insights on consumer digital media behaviour, including online audio, radio and podcast listening.