Podcast CPM by genre
TAKEOliver Wakefield-Smith · Digital SignetSources checked July 31, 2026
What are podcast CPMs by genre?
The register below is deliberately mostly “no published benchmark.” That is the finding. Genre pricing is real (sellers quote differently by category) but it is quoted, not published, which means your leverage is the format-level published rates plus per-show arithmetic. The band itself: .
| Genre | Published benchmark status |
|---|---|
| Business / finance | Within the published $22-30 band; widely quoted at the top of it, but no public per-genre row verifies |
| True crime | No published per-genre benchmark verified. Reach is large; quotes are show-by-show |
| Comedy | No published per-genre benchmark verified. Loyalty premium claims exist only in vendor marketing |
| Technology | No published per-genre benchmark verified |
| Health / wellness | No published per-genre benchmark verified |
| News / politics | No published per-genre benchmark verified |
| Sports | No published per-genre benchmark verified |
Why business shows top the band
Not mystery: audience value math. A show reaching budget holders can charge more per thousand because each listener is worth more to the advertiser, and B2B advertisers with four-figure contract values can rationally pay the top of the band and beyond. The full worked version of that tolerance math is on business podcast rates.
How genre should actually enter your plan
Genre is an audience-fit filter first and a price input second. A $30 CPM on a show your buyers actually listen to beats a $22 CPM on one they do not; the CPM difference is noise against the fit difference. Pick shows by audience, then check the quoted price’s implied CPM against the band and the format matrix.
B2B depth: business podcast rates · DTC genre logic: the DTC playbook