Pro edition
Media Kit.
The public page publishes the numbers with their definitions. This is what a sponsor receives. Every figure carries its method — a media kit whose numbers have no method is a design exercise.
Composition, and how it was measured
| Figure | Value | Method, and what it overstates |
|---|---|---|
| Where they are | 61% US, 14% CA, 11% UK, 14% other | From podcast host IP geolocation at request time. Accurate to country, not to city, and VPN traffic is in there. |
| How they listen | 54% Apple, 31% Spotify, 15% other | User-agent on the request. Two apps on one device count twice, which is the main way this figure overstates. |
| Device type | 78% mobile, 13% desktop, 9% smart speaker | Same source. Smart-speaker traffic completes at a much lower rate and is broken out in the completion figures. |
| Age and income | Not measured | No survey has been run, so there is no number. A media kit quoting demographics with no survey behind them has invented them, and I would rather say nothing. |
| Subscriber ratio | 68% of downloads within 48h | Proxy for how much of the audience is subscribed rather than discovering. High is good and it is why the 7-day and 30-day figures are close. |
The placement map
Real timings rather than the word "mid-roll", and the reach at each one.
| Slot | At | Length | Reach | Why there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-roll | 00:00:20 | 30 sec | 17,900 | After a ten-second cold open, before the theme. Placed there because a spot at 00:00:00 is skipped by muscle memory. |
| Mid-roll | 00:14:00 | 60 sec | 9,700 | At a real break in the episode rather than a fixed timestamp, which means it varies by a minute or two either way. |
| Post-roll | −00:03:00 | 30 sec | 6,100 | Three minutes from the end, not after the outro. An ad after the goodbye is an ad nobody hears. |
Volume, and the make-good rule
| Run | Terms | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 episode | Rate card | Available, and rarely worth it. One host-read spot in one episode does very little on its own. |
| 4 episodes | −15% | The smallest run I would recommend. Repetition is most of what makes host-read work. |
| 12 episodes | −25% | A quarter. Includes a mid-run copy revision at no charge, because a message that is not landing should change. |
| Category exclusivity | +30% | For the length of the run. Priced rather than refused, and honestly it is usually not worth the premium on a show this size. |
- Under 80% of the median at 30 days The next episode is free. Automatic, calculated from the same report the sponsor already has, and not something anybody has to ask for.
- An episode ships late The run extends rather than compresses. A sponsor bought a number of episodes, not a number of weeks.
- A read is wrong Re-recorded and the file replaced within 48 hours, at no cost. Podcast files are not broadcast; fixing one is genuinely cheap and there is no excuse for not doing it.
- The show pauses Unrun episodes are refunded, not credited. A credit against a show that may not return is not a refund.
Reporting
- Day 14 Downloads, completion, and reach at the placement timestamp. One page.
- Day 30 The same figures settled, plus the make-good calculation whether or not it triggers.
- End of run All episodes together, with the median so a sponsor can see the spread rather than an average.
- Never Attribution. I cannot tell you how many people bought something, and a show that offers to is either using a promo code — which undercounts badly — or guessing.
6 ways a sponsorship sours
- A media kit quoting lifetime downloads next to a competitor quoting 7-day, and a buyer comparing them.
- Demographics with no survey behind them, invented because the template had a field for them.
- A mid-roll sold against the download figure, so the CPM looks good and the campaign underperforms.
- No make-good rule, so a bad episode becomes an argument instead of a calculation.
- Reporting only when chased, which is the clearest possible signal not to renew.
- Attribution promised, and a promo code that captures a fifth of the actual conversions.
Figures are for an independent show of this size and do not transfer to a network, where inventory is sold programmatically and the numbers mean something different again. The IAB measurement guidelines are revised periodically; state the version you certified against.