Buy side · what advertisers pay
Podcast advertising CPM
By Oliver Wakefield-Smith · updated July 2026
Benchmarks reviewed July 2026 · next review October 2026
The short answer
Podcasting is the rare channel with a genuinely published rate card: AdvertiseCast's marketplace averages run $18 per thousand downloads for a 30-second host-read and $25 for a 60-second, retrieved July 2026. A 10,000-download episode therefore invoices around $180 to $250 per slot.
What you are billed on
The denominator is IAB-filtered downloads, not confirmed listens: bots, duplicates and partial fetches are excluded under the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines, but a download does not prove a human heard second 43 of your mid-roll. Price accordingly, and read the comparability caveat before lining podcast CPMs up against served-impression channels: YouTube vs podcast.
How rates spread around the average
- Host-read vs announcer or programmatic inserts. The published averages above are host-read rates; dynamically inserted announcer spots trade closer to standard audio inventory (Spotify's lane).
- Show size. Small shows often price above the average per thousand (scarcity of niche trust), big shows discount at volume.
- Niche. B2B, finance and tech audiences bill premium; broad entertainment reach bills under the average.
The three buying routes
Marketplaces (AdvertiseCast and peers) list shows with rates upfront; networks sell across their roster with sales support; direct deals with independent shows price against the trailing download average and often beat rate-card prices for repeat commitments. The IAB's revenue report tracks the market's overall scale if you need category context for a pitch.
The full worked buy, invoice math included: the mid-roll scenario. The seller's view of the same money: what podcasters earn. Full table: /rates.