What Moves Podcast Performance, Keeping Brand Deals Personal, & More

Today in the business of podcasting:

• Podscribe’s Q3 benchmark report finds geography is the strongest targeting signal for podcast ad results, followed by a recent visit to the advertiser’s website and its Buyer Power Score.
• The Podcast Study 2026 finds only 8.6% of listeners would accept more ads to keep a podcast free, while 54.8% say shows already carry too many.
• Right Side Up’s Krystina Rubino shares how a podcast host halved her rate for a fertility brand, and why bespoke deals still run on one-to-one relationships.
• Media, Built’s Steve Raizes argues Spotify’s Joe Rogan renewal buys the right to sell him rather than an exclusive, and what that means for ad sales across platforms.
• ADOPTER Media’s Adam McNeil explains how a brand’s place on the adoption curve should shape how it buys podcast ads.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today’s episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download’s newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.