Podcast listeners surge in India, but ad revenue lags behind

The number of monthly podcast listeners rose to 177 million in 2024, according to a report by global professional services network PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), from 154 million in 2023. This figure is expected to rise to 267 million by 2029, at a CAGR of 8.5%.

However, podcast advertising revenue was just over $39 million ( ₹350 crore) in 2024 and is projected to increase to more than $57 million by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 8%. Experts and content creators say that podcast discovery is still a challenge, making measurement harder for advertisers.

Only celebrity-led podcasts get traction. Those featuring domain experts are limited to a niche listener base. Further, few users are ready to pay for podcasts and brand sponsorship is growing slowly.

“Unlike music that still offers royalties to creators, the whole podcast business is still unorganised and ad hoc," said Goldie Behl, filmmaker and founder of Rose Audio Visuals, which runs podcasts under the RosePod brand. “The only source of revenue is from advertisers who also cherry pick what they like and want to go with."

The podcasts that attract advertisers are those featuring celebrities, Behl pointed out. Kavita Rajwade, co-founder of IVM Podcasts-Pratilipi, agreed that the podcast business operates more on recognizability than discoverability and relies on popular faces.

“Advertising is doing well there but there are challenges because subject matter experts have slid off the radar, so the bar is quite low," she added.

Rajwade and Amit Doshi, head of IVM Podcasts-Pratilipi, pointed out that one way out of this clutter is to create IP (intellectual property)-driven shows such as their latest with Sania Mirza, Serving It Up With Sania, where the tennis player chats with people from all walks of life. Also, branded content with products integrated into the narrative in exchange for funding are becoming popular.

Unmonetized content

Yatin Naik, business head of HTSmartcast, said India is a fundamentally subscription-light digital market. A tiny fraction of consumers pays for content, leaving high-quality podcast content unmonetized.

“Global podcast monetization platforms such as AdsWizz and Triton haven’t made much headway in India despite being in the market for some time. Due to the multi-platform nature of podcasts where they are streamed across services like Spotify, Apple podcast, Amazon Music, JioSaavn, and others simultaneously, measurement is fragmented," Naik explained. “Advertisers lack the standardization and impact metrics they crave, leading to limited conviction and lower ad spends. Brand-sponsored content is growing rapidly but is still sporadic rather than a sustained source of monetization. As a result, ad revenues are low.

Experts emphasize that YouTube has been a game-changer for podcasts, having moved to a visual medium from an audio one. According to an Edison report, more than half (51%) of surveyed YouTube podcast consumers in India said they watch YouTube podcasts through smart TVs. They cited ease of use (63%), ease of access on mobile devices (53%), and affordability (52%) as the top reasons for watching or listening to podcasts on YouTube. Further, 93% of weekly podcast consumers in India said they actively watch video podcasts, even more than in the US (73%).

“Great content is being created but often goes unnoticed. With over 30,000 active shows and substantial consumption on YouTube, we compete not only with other podcasts but also with the web series, vlogs and entire video content ecosystem," Naik said, adding that podcast discovery is a challenge that the company addresses by leveraging short-form video on social media and YouTube Shorts.

This is crucial because audiences increasingly discover podcasts through short videos on social media that help to pique interest and act as a hook to bring new audiences into the larger podcast ecosystem.