The economics of podcasting are a major draw for Liberty Media, which sees this area becoming a key focus in the immediate future, according to CEO Greg Maffei.

“Podcasts are a great example of how audio content continues to expand,” he said during a Q3 earnings call.

“We believe there’s a lot of room left to expand your audio day, unlike your video day,” he explained, arguing that the time in which people can use their personal device for video “is limited, has become maxed”.

The audio day , on the other hand, “between AirPods and Alexas and other kinds of distribution devices, is only expanding and is well under-tapped both in monetization and in time”.

And while music is now essentially a commodity – “table stakes” in the audio environment – podcasts offer a greater opportunity to differentiate, Maffei maintained.

“Podcasts are places where you can really go to exclusives,” he said. “And you think about the economics of that: whatever a podcast maker charges … it’s still far less cost per hour than what you get in video.”

Such new forms of audio content, he said, “are really attractive economically and really attractive for consumers and therefore distributors. So, you’ll hear probably more than you care to at our Investor Day, because it really is one of our key focuses”.


They’re also attractive to advertisers as data from Edison Research shows that hearing podcast ads makes listeners more likely to consider the brand.

The direction of travel at Liberty Media was evident last month, when two of the media company’s subsidiaries, radio business SiriusXM and streaming outfit Pandora, announced a podcast collaboration with Marvel.

This will see the development of four scripted series, each ten episodes long, based around iconic Marvel characters and a fifth series in which all four team up. In addition, unscripted podcasts will look at Marvel’s history through the lens of modern-day pop culture, while regular talk shows will include an interview show featuring famous celebrity guests.

Sourced from Seeking Alpha, SiriusXM; additional content by WARC staff