IAB Sets Podcast Upfront Lineup, Market Expected To Top $220M

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) set the lineup for its third annual IAB Podcast Upfront, which will feature presentations from more than a dozen networks including ESPN, Gimlet Media, HowStuffWorks, iHeartMedia, and Panoply.

The event, slated for Sept. 7 in New York, aims to gather marketers, media buyers, publishers, and content creators together to explore the media sales opportunity of podcasting.

"The podcasting industry is currently at an inflection point. We’re seeing double-digit listener growth and advertiser investment growing 85% year-over-year [2016 vs. 2017],”  Matt Lieber, president and co-founder, Gimlet Media, told Digital Daily News via email.

“More and more, brands and agencies are approaching us for guidance in leveraging podcasts and our influencer hosts," Greg Batusic, COO, The Forbes On PodCastOne Network, told DND.

The IAB said presenters at the Upfront will discuss the work behind popular podcasts including “30 for 30 Podcasts,” “Anna Faris is Unqualified,” “Embedded,” "EW's Game of Thrones Weekly," “I Hate My Boss,” “Label Defiers,” “Radiolab,” “Reply All,” “Stuff You Should Know,” and “The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel.”

According to IAB research, podcast ad revenues will exceed $220 million this year.

Earlier this year Bridge Ratings projected 27% ad spend growth in the podcasting arena for 2017 (with an estimated total at $260 million) and 30% growth in 2018.

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