Today in EL PAÍS, Stretching the gum, Nobody knows anything, We’ll come out better, Buenismo bien and El larguero have something in common. They are some of the most successful podcasts of the 1,200 by Prisa Audio, the Prisa division that brings together all the group’s audios and, just a year and a half after its creation, is consolidating its leadership in the industry. According to the ranking of Triton Digital’s Streaming Metrics Monthly Ranker, a reference company for measuring the digital audio industry, Prisa Audio is already the first Spanish-language streaming media company and the second worldwide, behind only the American iHeart Media.
The numbers speak for this continued growth: in 2022 alone, PRISA Audio achieved 574 million downloads and 971 million listening hours, representing annual growth of 39% and 17% respectively. The results were presented this Thursday at an event at the Taller de Ideas in Madrid, where the company’s key audio representatives analyzed the company’s burgeoning audio situation. That’s how he exposed it Carlos Núñez, President of PRISA Media, who celebrated the milestones of the past year in front of prominent representatives of the media and business community. Núñez emphasized the group’s commitment to creating quality content that engages listeners: “Combining creativity and innovation with the power of our news brands and technological evolution is crucial in the streaming industry, as Prisa Audio does. “
For about an hour and a half, the group’s audio representatives presented the most outstanding dates for 2022. Of the 1,200 podcasts in the entire catalogue, 82 new ones were created in 2022, 54 of which were original “for the group’s media”. 17 of these were productions for third parties and 11 for branded podcasts. The numbers have practically doubled revenue, growing 43% in advertising and sponsored content alone compared to 2021. The amount of income in new areas such as third-party production, events or intellectual property management has also doubled.
María Jesús Espinosa de los Monteros, General Director of Prisa Audio, acted as Master of Ceremonies for the event. “The podcast is experiencing tremendous growth in the Spanish audio market,” he said. “The video podcast is already one of the big trends in 2023, we innovate and apply artificial intelligence to audio and we will celebrate the second edition of the Ondas Globales Podcast Awards,” he said at the launch.
PRISA Audio was born in May 2021 as part of the group’s digital strategy as a commitment to new formats. It integrates the group’s non-linear audio content, such as EL PAÍS, As, Cadena SER, Podium Podcast, Cadena Dial and LOS40, and also brings together the group’s stations in Latin America, such as W Radio, Caracol Radio and ADN Chile, among others.
In 2022 new teams and brands were consolidated, such as EL PAÍS Audio. On the podium of the most-listened-to daily podcast in written media, Hoy is in EL PAÍS, which has already accumulated 15 million downloads in just 10 months. Silvia Cruz Lapeña, editor-in-chief of EL PAÍS Audio, presented the new proposals of the newspaper’s cross-section for 2023: Hoy en EL PAÍS is now also published at weekends; On January 24th, the podcast by Leontxo García, the newspaper’s chess expert, will premiere and new investigative journalistic formats will be prepared for the coming months, following other sound works such as Los papeles de Bárcenas. “It’s going to be the year of fiction and reportage,” he said, before giving way to a video synopsis of the year by director Pepa Bueno and the section’s stars.
Last year also left good numbers for Cadena SER, with more than 250 million downloads ―38.5% more than 2021―, a significant increase in subscribers on YouTube and with the good results of projects such as Nadie sabe nada, on the podium of Heard most podcasts in the house. Also outstanding were sports productions by As Audio and Cadena SER, which developed their own content, such as Carrusel Deportivo and El larguero, and podcasts such as Los cromos del Mundial, España, 1982 or Mínimo de veterano.
The General Director of PRISA Audio, María Jesús Espinosa de los Monteros, during the meeting.Santi Burgos
Podium Podcast achieved a 36% increase in net downloads over the past year and produced 25 new tracks. During the presentation, the success of Estirando el chicle was highlighted, which not only topped the rankings as one of the most listened to podcasts, but also its creators managed to fill the Wizink Center stadium in Madrid in an event with more than 12,000 people live and 16,000 more in streaming. Additionally, Espinosa de los Monteros announced that the presenters will premiere their third season in March. Podium has also grown in brand podcasts, with bets such as Cambio de sentido, a podcast on sustainability together with BMW, presented by Juan del Val, or Road to Dakar 2023, a production for Audi together with As and Cadena SER, presented by Jose Antonio Ponseti. Other branded podcast work has been done for LaLiga, Caixa Forum, Ericsson, State Lotteries or Banco Sabadell.
As part of the company’s goal of strengthening its presence in Latin America, in 2022 it launched Podium Podcast Chile, a portal for Chilean listeners with local content that also includes the offerings of PRISA Media. Podium has also opened in Colombia and will soon do so in Mexico to complete its expansion in Latin America.
2022 has also strengthened outstanding agreements with third parties. With Podimo, Spotify and Amazon Music, PRISA Audio has released nearly two dozen original series, and with Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, the company has just signed an agreement to create and co-produce original content with the publisher’s authors and books.
The PRISA event also served to look ahead to 2023, where the group intends to continue its growth plan on the path of quality journalism and entertainment. “We want to be the great agent of transformation in the podcast industry,” affirmed Espinosa de los Monteros.
Ondas Global Podcast Awards
Another important milestone addressed during this Thursday’s presentation in Madrid was the Ondas Globales Podcast Awards, launched in 2021 after Radio Barcelona’s Ondas Awards. Sponsored by Prisa Audio and Cadena SER, the awards have already become podcasting benchmarks in Spanish-speaking countries. The aim is to recognize each year’s most outstanding podcasters, screenwriters, producers and professionals in the industry in around 15 categories.
The awards, which premiered last year and were held for the first time in Malaga, will be presented for the second time in 2023 with a ceremony that will take place next May. The good performance of the podcast industry this year is reflected in the 1,178 official applications received in this edition, a 25% increase over the previous year. The awards, sponsored this year by Amazon Music and Audible and supported by the Junta de Andalucía, the Diputación and the Malaga City Council, will award prizes in 15 categories. On February 1st, the 65 finalists will be announced and the winners of the second edition will be announced in mid-March.