PRISA Audio, the PRISA Media platform that integrates all of the Group’s digital audio production, strengthened its lead in Spanish-language production worldwide in 2022, yet another key milestone in PRISA’s ongoing commitment to leading the transformation of quality journalism and entertainment.

Last year, the division clocked up 574 million downloads and 971 million listening hours – representing year-on-year growth of 38% and 17%, respectively. Thus, for the second consecutive year, Triton Digital’s Streaming Metrics Monthly Ranker, the industry standard for online audio consumption worldwide, just after US-based iHeartMedia.

Carlos Núñez, executive chairperson of PRISA Media, took stock of the year this Thursday and looked ahead to the challenges of 2023, together with the managing director of PRISA Audio, María Jesús Espinosa de los Monteros, at an event organized by PRISA Audio that brought together representatives of the sector. Núñez explained that this constant growth was thanks largely to the group’s commitment to creating quality content of interest to listeners.

“Combining, as PRISA Audio does, creativity and innovation with the power of our news media brands and technological development is decisive in the streaming industry,” he said, while also noting the importance of Group’s expansion strategy in Latin America.

In 2022, PRISA Audio produced a total of 1,200 podcasts. It launched 82 new podcasts, of which 54 are original (for the group’s own media), 17 are productions for third parties and 11 are branded podcasts. These figures have enabled PRISA Audio to practically double revenue over the past year. Advertising and sponsored content have seen a growth of 43% compared to 2021 and revenue from new lines such as third-party production, events and intellectual property management have doubled.

PRISA Audio was launched in May 2021 as part of the Group’s digital strategy and commitment to new formats. It brings together the non-liner audio content of El País, As, Cadena SER, Podium Podcast, Cadena Dial, LOS40 and group stations in Latin America, such W Radio, Caracol Radio, and ADN Chile, among others.

In 2022, PRISA Audio continued to forge ahead with the creation and consolidation of new teams and brands, such as El País Audio, As Audio, and Podium Podcast Chile. The most popular print-media is Hoy en El País, which in just 10 months has already registered 15 million downloads and is expanding to Saturdays and Sundays thanks to Podium. Silvia Cruz Lapeña, the editor-in-chief of El País Audio, unveiled a range of novelties for 2023, including, on January 24, the debut of the podcast Leontxo García, the newspaper’s resident chess expert. Meanwhile, new investigative journalism formats are set to be rolled out over the coming months.

Cardena SER also had a good year, with more than 250 million downloads – a 38.5% increase compared to 2021. The network also saw a significant increase in subscribers on YouTube, and its podcast Nadie sabe nada was the audience favorite. There were also outstanding sports productions by As Audio and Cardena SER, which have developed their own content, including Mundial,España,1982 and Mínimo de veterano.

Meanwhile, Podium Podcast saw net downloads rise by 36%, and produced 25 new titles. There was notable success for Estirando el chicle, which in addition to topping the rankings as the most-listened-to podcast, drew a crowd of 12,000 fans to fill the Wizink Center stadium in Madrid. A further 16,000 fans followed the event via streaming.

Podium has also continued apace with branded podcast, including Cambio de sentido – a podcast on sustainability in partnership with BMW and presented by Juan del Val – and Road to Dakar 2023 a production made for Audi together with As and Cadena SER, and presented by José Antonio Ponseti. Other branded podcasts have been produced for LaLiga, Caixa Forum, Ericsson, the State Lottery and Banco Sabadell.

As the top-ranking podcast producer in the Spanish-speaking world, PRISA Audio also strengthened its presence in Latin America in 2022 with the debut of Podium Podcast Chile. With this launch, the group now offers Chilean listeners a portal where they can consume the very best content, including the entire PRISA Media catalog. More recently, Podium Podcast has also launched in Columbia and will soon make its debut in Mexico, thus culminating its expansion in Latin America.

Looking ahead to 2023, the group hopes to forge ahead with its growth plan in the areas of quality journalism and entertainment, said María Jesús Espinosa de los Monteros, managing director of PRISA Audio, who acted as master of ceremonies for the event: “Our goal is to become a key agent of transformation in the podcast industry,”