Earn side · what creators are paid
Podcast CPM for creators
By Oliver Wakefield-Smith · updated October 2026
The short answer
Your show's sponsorship value is downloads times rate, and the rate has a published anchor: Libsyn Ads (formerly AdvertiseCast) states an overall average of $18 to $22 per thousand downloads for 30-second baked-in host-reads and $24 to $26 for 60-second, retrieved October 2026. At the low ends, a 5,000-download episode is worth roughly $90 to $120 per 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 × $24.00 = $120 (60s slot)
Three slots per episode ≈ $330 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 (Libsyn Ads and peers) list your show at card rates and take a cut of the transaction; ask what share reaches you before treating a buyer-side CPM as your income.
- 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.