Audioboom sales hit by loss of true crime podcast
- Audioboom revealed that sales fell by about a fifth to $45.8 million in the third quarter.
- True crime series Morbid departed to rival network Wondery in May last year.
- Founded in 2009, Audioboom is the fifth largest podcast publisher in the US.
Audioboom experienced a sharp drop in revenue following a decline in the advertising market and the loss of a hit show.
The podcast publisher, one of the largest in the United States, revealed that turnover fell by around a fifth to $45.8 million (£37.6 million) during the first nine months of 2023.
Much of the decline was due to the departure of true crime anthology series Morbid to rival network Wondery in May 2022, after the pair agreed to a one-week advertising and window sales deal.
Listen closely: Podcast publisher Audioboom Group revealed that turnover fell by around a fifth to $45.8m (£37.6m) for the first nine months of 2023.
Morbid was not only the London-based company’s most popular podcast, with around 30 million monthly downloads, but it also accounted for around 20 percent of its business.
Although the company subsequently signed multiple new partnerships or expanded deals, sales have been further impacted by a slowdown across the advertising sector.
For every 1,000 downloads in the third quarter, the group reported revenue of $37, up from $54.77 during the equivalent period two years ago.
However, Audioboom anticipates that revenue during the last three months of 2023 will increase to at least $19 million, which would be its best three months since the second quarter of last year.
It expects this will lead to profits before the nasties return to profit, compared with a loss of $1.7 million in the nine months ending in September, with an additional boost provided by improvements in contracts with podcast creators.
Looking ahead, the AIM-listed company believes next year it will achieve its best-ever turnover and a recovery to “strong” positive earnings.
Stuart Last, its chief executive, said the company was “confident about our prospects for 2024 and I am pleased to maintain our expectations for a record revenue performance next year”.
Founded in 2009, Audioboom is the fifth largest podcast publisher in the United States, according to figures from Triton Digital and Edison Research.
From July to September, its programs were downloaded an average of 126.6 million times a month, compared to 107.5 million in the same period the previous year.
The company has a contract to produce the official podcasts of Formula One motor racing series, such as F1: Beyond the Grid and F1 Nation, until 2025 after agreeing an extension last year.
Other shows on its network include The Cycling Podcast, The Tim Dillon Show and No Such Thing as a Fish, whose presenters are the research team behind BBC panel QI.
Audioboom Group Actions They were down 2.8 per cent to 175p on Monday morning and have fallen about 60 per cent so far this year.
