What is a good CPM for a podcast?

The published market averages for baked-in host reads are $24 to $26 for 60-second spots and $18 to $22 for 30-second spots, per Libsyn Ads. A rate above that range is defensible when your audience is a specific buyer's exact target, when you absorb production work, or when the deal includes exclusivity or usage rights. A rate below it usually reflects broad general-interest inventory or a programmatic reach buy.

How much can a podcast with 1,000 downloads per episode earn?

At a $25 CPM, one 60-second mid-roll delivering 1,000 downloads earns $25 per episode, so four episodes a month with one spot each is $100. Two spots per episode doubles it. That arithmetic is why shows under a few thousand downloads per episode usually earn more from memberships or a direct offer than from CPM advertising.

Should I charge a flat fee or a CPM?

Charge a flat fee when your per-episode delivery is small or variable, because CPM invoices at that scale are not worth the admin on either side. Move to CPM when delivery is predictable and the buyer is large enough to expect it. Either way, show the delivery figures so the buyer can calculate their own effective CPM.

Podcast advertising rates: what shows charge now

Podcast advertising rates for baked-in host reads currently average $24 to $26 CPM for 60-second spots and $18 to $22 CPM for 30-second spots, according to the rates published by Libsyn Ads, the marketplace formerly known as AdvertiseCast. CPM means cost per thousand delivered downloads, so a $25 CPM on 4,000 delivered downloads is a $100 spot.

Those are marketplace averages across a broad pool of shows. Your show is not the average, and the gap between your rate and the average is decided by audience specificity and scope, not by download volume alone.

Podcast advertising rates: the benchmark numbers

| Format | Published average CPM | What it typically covers | |---|---|---| | 60-second host read, baked in | $24 to $26 | The default unit in direct and marketplace deals | | 30-second host read, baked in | $18 to $22 | Shorter reads and supplied scripts |

Two market figures give those rates context. US podcast advertising revenue reached $2.862 billion in 2025, up 17.6% year over year, per the IAB's annual podcast advertising revenue study reported in April 2026. On the audience side, Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026 found 58% of Americans aged 12 and over, roughly 167 million people, listened to a podcast in the last month, with 45% listening weekly.

Demand and supply are both growing. That is why rates have held rather than collapsed as inventory expanded.

Sources and what these numbers do not cover

The CPM figures above come from Libsyn Ads' published podcast advertising guidance. They describe baked-in host-read inventory sold through a marketplace. They do not describe:

Programmatic and dynamically inserted reach buys, which clear lower because they sell scale rather than endorsement.
Custom integrations, branded segments, or full show sponsorships, which are priced as projects rather than per thousand.
Non-US markets, where rates differ substantially by country and category.
Direct deals below marketplace minimums, which are usually flat-fee and never appear in any public dataset.

Anyone publishing a precise CPM table broken down to two decimal places by genre is estimating. Treat the range above as the anchor and price the specifics yourself.

What moves your rate above or below the average

Rate is a function of how hard your audience is to reach elsewhere, plus how much work you absorb.

Moves the rate up:

A clearly defined professional audience a buyer cannot reach efficiently anywhere else
High consumption, meaning listeners actually reach the mid-roll
Category exclusivity for the flight
Custom scripting, research, or a bespoke integration you produce
Usage rights letting the brand reuse your read in their own channels
Reliable, consistent delivery reporting the buyer does not have to chase

Moves the rate down:

Broad general-interest audience with no describable buying behaviour
Low or unknown completion, so mid-roll delivery is uncertain
Supplied spot with no host involvement
Volatile episode-to-episode delivery
Selling through an intermediary that takes a share

Notice that only two of those are about size. Audience specificity is the biggest single lever an independent show has, and it is available at 500 downloads per episode as easily as at 50,000.

Run your own numbers before you quote

Work out what a deal is worth to you before the conversation, using your median 30-day delivery across your last 8 to 12 episodes. Median, not mean, so one outlier episode does not set an expectation you cannot repeat.

| Median delivery per episode | One 60s spot at $25 CPM | Four episodes, one spot each | |---|---|---| | 500 | $12.50 | $50 | | 1,000 | $25 | $100 | | 5,000 | $125 | $500 | | 20,000 | $500 | $2,000 |

That table is straight arithmetic, and it is the most useful thing on this page. It shows why shows under a few thousand downloads per episode should treat advertising as a supplement rather than the plan, and why membership and direct-offer routes usually pay better at that size.

It also shows why a flat fee makes sense for small shows. A $200 flat fee for a four-episode flight is easy to invoice, easy to approve, and gives the buyer a clean unit to evaluate. Quote the fee, show the delivery data, and let the buyer compute their own effective CPM.

What a rate card should actually contain

A CPM on its own is not a price. Put these on the page:

Placement and length, with slot counts per episode.
Minimum flight, usually four episodes, because response builds with repetition.
What is included: scripting, recording, revisions, newsletter or social placements, reporting.
The measurement window, normally 30 days after publication, stated explicitly.
Extras priced separately: category exclusivity, usage rights, custom production.
Your exclusions: categories and claims you will not run.

The scope is what makes two CPMs comparable. Our sponsorship guide covers packaging inventory in more detail, and how to price host-read sponsorships goes deeper on the negotiation itself.

Common rate mistakes

Quoting from a total download figure. Buyers pay for delivery inside a stated window, not for your lifetime total. Agree the window first, then quote. What counts as a podcast download covers the standard buyers expect, which is the IAB Tech Lab guideline requiring roughly 60 seconds of the file to be requested and deduplicating repeat requests within 24 hours.

Discounting to win the first deal. Your first sponsor sets your anchor. A show that opens at half rate spends two years climbing back.

Charging one rate for every placement. Pre-roll, mid-roll, and a branded segment are different products with different delivery and different production cost.

Giving away rights for free. A podcast read does not include the right to run your voice as a paid social ad. Price channel, term, and territory separately.

Reporting a different number each month. Consistency in reporting is worth more to a buyer than a strong month, because it is what makes their forecast possible.

Price from data you can defend

Every point in this article ends in the same place: the rate you can hold is the rate you can evidence. Median delivery, consumption, audience description, and a report that arrives on the agreed date. Shows with that in hand negotiate from a position that download totals alone never provide.

Want delivery data you can put in front of a buyer without caveats? Start with Podder Analytics.