The Podcast Atlas : Audio Goes Where Screens Can't
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For years, podcasting has been treated as a single line item on a media plan: one format, one box to check. That framing no longer holds. Sounds Profitable's newly released Podcast Atlas offers the most complete map yet of how audiences move through the creator ecosystem, spanning audio, video, clips, social, and newsletters, and what each part is genuinely good at.
The headline finding is one Audion has built its model around: audio goes where screens can't. Across five measures of reach, attention, credibility, and audience goodwill, the data shows a consistent pattern. Audio isn't the "safe" or "cheap" format in the funnel. It's the format where advertising is least resisted and most believed.
Here's what the Atlas found, and what it means for brands rethinking their audio strategy in 2026.
1. Reach: Audio Wins Every Hands-Busy Moment
The Atlas confirms that audio's core advantage starts with when it shows up, not just how often. Compared to video, audio consistently dominates the moments where a screen simply isn't an option:
-> Exercising or walking: audio scores 46 pts vs. 22 pts for video, +24 pts for audio
-> Housework or chores: 46 pts vs. 25 pts, +21 pts for audio
-> Commuting or traveling: 38 pts vs. 20 pts, +18 pts for audio
-> Cooking: 41 pts vs. 27 pts, +14 pts for audio
These aren't marginal moments. They're the daily, recurring windows where a brand can be present without competing for a screen, and where video, by definition, cannot follow.
2. Attention: The Condition Under Which an Ad Actually Gets Heard
Reach means little without attention, and this is where audio's structural advantage becomes clearest. According to the Atlas, 77% of listeners give a podcast their full, or nearly full, attention.
The logic is simple: hands are busy, but ears are not. Long, low-distraction stretches where a single creator's voice is the only thing in the room are precisely the condition under which an ad gets heard rather than scrolled past.
3. Credibility: The Environment People Trust Most
Trust is the metric that ultimately protects ad performance, and audio leads here too. Among each platform's most engaged users, the share who rate their own feed's content as accurate and factual breaks down as:
-> Audio: 58%
-> Video: 55%
-> Facebook: 36%
Audio also ties for the fewest reported bad ad experiences in the study, at just 21%, a meaningful signal in a landscape where ad fatigue and skepticism are rising across nearly every other channel.
4. They Give the Benefit of the Doubt, and They Stay
The most striking findings in the Atlas concern audience mindset: the conditions that determine whether an ad message actually lands.
-> Only 31% of audio listeners question the claims made in ads, the lowest skepticism of any format measured
-> 27% believe creators are motivated by helping their audience, not money, the highest of any platform in the study
-> 71% finish the episodes they start, so the ad is still reaching them well past the point most formats lose the viewer
As Sounds Profitable puts it, audio is where persuasion actually takes hold.
5. What This Means for Media Planning
Taken together, these findings describe something more specific than "audio has good engagement." They argue that this environment naturally outshines video and social media by providing a better framework for advertising: higher presence, attention, credibility, and goodwill.
For brands and agencies, the implication is to treat audio as the format best positioned to carry a message all the way through: reaching people in moments screens can't, holding their attention once there, and doing so in an environment audiences trust rather than tune out.
This is the case Audion has been building campaigns around since day one, and it's why research like the Podcast Atlas matters: it puts hard numbers behind an advantage we see play out in campaign after campaign.
Explore the full Podcast Atlas study, produced by Sounds Profitable with data from Signal Hill Insights, to see the complete picture of how advertising works across the creator ecosystem.
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About Audion
Founded in 2018 by Arthur Larrey and Kamel El Hadef, Audion has established itself as the go-to partner for digital audio solutions for brands and their media agencies. With a technology-driven and AI-powered approach, Audion transforms audio into a high-performing, controllable, and measurable media lever across the entire marketing funnel.
Leveraging proprietary technologies integrated with artificial intelligence, Audion designs, activates, and optimizes results-oriented audio campaigns capable of delivering tangible outcomes - from brand awareness to business performance.
With offices in Paris, New York, London, Milan, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, Audion brings together a team of 50 experts dedicated to helping advertisers unlock the full strategic and operational potential of digital audio.
Website: www.audion.ai
