Weekly Insights · January 25, 2023

Weekly Insights 1.25.2023 Most Efficient Podcasts for Advertisers by Region in the U.S.

By Edison Research

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 North(east), South, West, and Midwest’s Most Efficient Shows

This week’s Insight combines two of our favorite things: rankings and podcasts. Actually, make that three things: rankings, podcasts, and maps.

The Efficiency Ranker from Edison Podcast Metrics provides data to help advertising buyers and sellers understand which of the biggest podcasts are the most efficient to buy against advertising targets. These aren’t necessarily the podcasts with the most listeners, they are the shows that deliver target demographics with the least “waste,” or listeners who are not in the target demographic.

Today we look at the four regions in the U.S.: South, Midwest, West, and Northeast and which one podcast most efficiently delivers listeners age 18+ in each region.

These shows all enjoy high-profile guests and robust social media followings, but are wildly different when it comes to content.

South: The 85 South Show, a comedy podcast featuring hosts DC Young Fly, Karlous Miller, Clayton English, and Chico Bean, is the most efficient podcast in reaching age 18+ podcast listeners in the South. For those unfamiliar, driving Interstate 85 south takes you from Virginia through the Carolinas and Georgia to Alabama. Produced by 85 South Media, the show features interviews and improv. More than two-thirds of the listeners to this show are in the states the census designates as “South”.

Midwest: The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 , a sports-centered podcast (not to be confused with The Pat McAfee Show) with multi-hyphenate commentator, comedian, former NFL player, and athlete Pat McAfee, is the most efficient show to reach podcast listeners 18+ in the Midwest region. McAfee’s football career was entirely spent with the Midwest’s own Indianapolis Colts, and he continues to operate from Indiana. Midwesterners make up half the listeners to this show, whereas the population of the Midwest is 21% of the total U.S. population.

West: The Ezra Klein Show, a conversation show from the New York Times with journalist/analyst Ezra Klein, is the most efficient show for podcast listeners 18+ in the West region. Despite representing the ultimate East Coast establishment newspaper, Klein is based in the Bay Area and brings that sensibility to his shows. Western states residents comprise half the listeners to this show.

Northeast: You Must Remember This, a storytelling podcast written, produced and narrated by Karina Longworth, is the most efficient podcast in reaching age 18+ podcast listeners in the Northeast. The show is “dedicated to exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century.” This is the only one of the four regions where the most efficient show is not based in the region it emanates from – perhaps our readers can point us to the connection?

Also in Weekly Insight news, ICYMI, Media Habits of Gen Z is now available to download or view.

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