HT Media Ltd. has partnered with AdsWizz to create India’s first programmatic podcast marketplace. This strategic relationship enables brands to access millions of listeners in India with real-time buying and selling of podcast advertising. Named “FabX”, this is the newest addition to HT media’s vast offering.
Podcast advertising is still at a nascent stage in India. Among the choices one has in podcasting, sponsored episodes and branded content are the obvious options available to both publisher and advertiser, with Programmatic as a new avenue it is is a win-win situation for the podcast industry in India. In a market that is fragmented with Subscription-based models and independent content selling, this move sets itself as a sure way of providing access to monetization avenues.
“Our partnership with Hindustan Times highlights the growing opportunities in this market,” says Patrick Roger, VP of New Markets, AdsWizz. “Our technology combines the power of programmatic advertising with the power of podcasts, enabling advertisers’ easy access to a highly engaged audience. Additionally, with our AI Transcription Technology, advertisers can ensure brand safety by only serving ads to podcast shows our episodes that have specific topics as a central theme.”
This relationship will automate real-time buying, targeting, optimization, and reporting of podcast ad inventory. Advertisers will always be able to choose their geography, time, and demographics as the content increases. What is more exciting is the fact that one of the biggest reasons why podcasts are making their space into the heart of the Indians is because the content is present in numerous languages. Local advertising too can be enabled via this platform.
It is estimated that the number of listeners will rise to 170.6 million by 2023, and India’s music, radio and podcast market will double itself by 2023. The advent of programmatic advertising in podcasts opens doors to more brand communications spend towards the format as the audience grows.
“It is an exciting time for us and a proud moment, to make advertisers experience the power of an immersive medium like Podcasts.” says Ramesh Menon, CEO, Fever Network and Next Radio Ltd.
“HT Smartcast is paving the way for advertisers to have higher efficiency and greater impact for their advertising bucks through Programmatic audio advertising that will be time-saving, targeted and data/analysis friendly and performance-oriented. Our focus now is to quickly scale this for the benefit of podcasters and advertisers alike and help them take advantage of a marketplace on increasing the volume of new and engaging content and exploring the full potential of audio.”
Indian Podcasts are available in Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, and other vernacular languages. This diversity increases engagement and promotes a larger attention span in podcasts. This learning is not only beneficial for advertisers, but for podcasters in India who are looking to create monetizable content.
HT Media plans to be for podcasters, what YouTube is to creators. It believes that there is a podcaster hidden in every Indian who has a story to tell. It is enabling then with their podcast content-generating company HT Smartcast and partner companies like HubHopper. By the virtue of its legacy is enabling another medium of sharing voice.