Earn side · what creators are paid
Podcast CPM for creators
By Oliver Wakefield-Smith · updated July 2026
The short answer
Your show's sponsorship value is downloads times rate, and the rate has a published anchor: AdvertiseCast's marketplace averages $18 per thousand downloads for 30-second host-reads and $25 for 60-second, retrieved July 2026. A 5,000-download episode is worth roughly $90 to $125per slot before any middleman's cut.
The episode-value math
episode value = downloads ÷ 1,000 × CPM
5,000 ÷ 1,000 × $18.00 = $90 (30s slot)
5,000 ÷ 1,000 × $25.00 = $125 (60s slot)
Three slots per episode ≈ $340 at mixed lengths
Use your trailing 30-day average downloads per episode, IAB-filtered. Sponsors will.
Quote against the download number your hosting platform reports under IAB guidelines; inflated raw server counts get discovered at renewal time, which is the expensive moment to look unserious.
Who takes what between sponsor and show
- Marketplaces (AdvertiseCast and peers) list your show at card rates and take a commission from the transaction; their published buyer-side rates already include it.
- Networks sell for their roster and keep a negotiated share; in exchange you get a sales team you do not have to be.
- Direct dealskeep the whole rate. They typically start when a sponsor can buy meaningful volume in one conversation; niche B2B shows cross that line at download counts that would embarrass a comedy chart, because the buyer's math is qualified listeners, not scale.
Programmatic inserts monetize back catalog below host-read rates; treat them as floor revenue, not your rate card. The buyer's complete view of your invoice is at podcast advertising CPM, the worked purchase at the mid-roll scenario, and the adjacent seller market at newsletter sponsorship rates. Benchmarks: /rates.