Audacy: Podcast Hosts Hold 21-Point Trust Advantage

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | 12:12pm CT

Audacy Insights

Podcast hosts have a significant advantage over social media influencers when it comes to authenticity and their ability to influence consumers, according to a new Audacy Insights report. Audacy says 75% of listeners rate podcast hosts as the most authentic, compared with 54% for social media influencers, a 21-point difference. The company attributes the gap in part to the amount of time and attention audiences give podcast personalities.

Unlike social media, where users move among content from numerous accounts, podcast listeners can spend 30 minutes to more than an hour with the same host. Audacy says more than 70% of heavy podcast listeners hear each episode through to completion, while nearly half listen to new episodes on the day they are released.

"If you can get someone to tune in to your conversation and stick around for 30 minutes to an hour, the amount of baked-in persuasion that you have over that individual just grows with each minute they're tuned in -- unlike almost any other creator channel," said Adopter Media SVP of Client Services Adam McNeil.

That attention also carries over to advertising. According to the report, 71% of podcast listeners say they pay more attention to podcast advertising than ads elsewhere, while 84% say a podcaster has changed their mind about something.

More than half say they are more likely to consider products recommended by a favorite host, and nearly three-quarters report purchasing a brand after hearing a podcast creator endorse it. More than half also say they will listen to an advertisement appearing in a podcast they love regardless of the product category.

Audacy says the trust established between listeners and hosts can also transfer to advertisers. Among heavy podcast listeners, 64% say they trust podcast advertising more than advertising in any other medium.

"Today, in an increasingly artificial world, there's an increasing premium on authenticity and on real recommendations, which can be deployed at scale through this channel," said Oxford Road CEO and founder Dan Granger. "That's, without question, its strongest asset."

Audacy said the findings demonstrate how the relationships podcast personalities develop over repeated listening can give advertisers access to an audience already inclined to pay attention to their recommendations.

Read the complete Audacy Insights article here.