For years, people told me podcasts in this region made zero sense.
Too niche. Too difficult to measure. Advertisers wanted reach they could see: impressions, banners, views, clicks. Audio was often what you looked at after the rest of the media plan was done.
I’ve spent more than 25 years in media across MENA, and I’ve heard versions of this argument before.
The funny thing is, when something makes “zero sense”, I usually start paying attention.
Because zero isn’t the end. It’s the starting point.
And podcasting in this region has moved well beyond that point.
The money is following the audience
Advertiser demand across Next Audio’s network grew 67% year-on-year, while average campaign spend increased another 30%.
For me, the second number may be even more important.
New advertisers experimenting with podcasting is good. Existing advertisers coming back and committing more money is better.
Anyone who has sold media knows the difference. A first campaign can be curiosity. A second, bigger campaign usually means something worked.
And we are seeing serious categories lean in: finance, travel, airlines, banking and real estate.
These aren’t categories that spend because something is fashionable. They have targets and people asking what the investment delivered.
The audience is already here
Podcast listens across our network grew 32% year-on-year.
Think about how we live in the GCC.
We drive. A lot.
We walk, exercise, travel and move between meetings. We spend large parts of our day in moments where another screen isn’t practical.
Audio owns those moments.
And unlike a social feed where you’re competing with hundreds of messages, someone choosing a podcast has made a conscious decision to spend time with that content.
That word matters: choice
Attention has become a premium product
We talk endlessly in advertising about reach. I think we should talk much more about attention.
Our network consistently records podcast ad listen-through rates in the 90s.
Compare that with what we’ve become comfortable accepting elsewhere: ads skipped after a few seconds, people scrolling past content, videos playing without sound, impressions technically delivered but barely noticed.
Podcasting gives advertisers something increasingly difficult to buy: sustained attention.
Then there is trust.
A listener has chosen the host. They come back. They know the person’s voice, opinions, humour and personality.
That changes the advertising environment completely.
Host integration can build endorsement and recall. Pre-recorded campaigns can deliver scale, targeting and flexibility.
There isn’t one perfect format. The objective should choose it.
Programmatic is changing the equation too
Another development worth watching is programmatic podcast advertising.
For a long time, podcast advertising was seen mainly as sponsorships and host-read integrations. Those remain important, but programmatic is making audio easier to buy at scale and giving advertisers more of the targeting, measurement and optimization they already expect from digital media.
That’s also why we’ve launched www.earo.ai our new self-serve platform, making it easier for advertisers to access and buy podcast audiences directly.
If you’re a brand, agency or marketer curious about testing podcast advertising without making it complicated, check out earo.ai.
Making podcast advertising easier to plan, buy and measure is an important part of moving audio from an add-on to a core media channel.
Don’t judge audio by a click
Someone is listening to a podcast while driving from Sharjah to Dubai.
Are we really expecting them to click an ad?
Probably not. Hopefully not!
But that doesn’t mean the advertising didn’t work.
Today we can attribute post-exposure behaviour such as website visits, sign-ups and app installs. The measurement has improved significantly.
So the conversation has changed.
We no longer need to say, “Trust us, podcasting works.”
We can bring audience data, targeting and attribution to the table.
Video is helping podcasting, but they’re not the same thing
YouGov data indicates 60% of UAE podcast listeners prefer video, compared with 20% who prefer audio-only.
I think that’s good news.
Video is expanding discovery. Clips travel through social platforms and introduce new audiences to shows, hosts and conversations.
But brands shouldn’t assume video and audio podcasts are interchangeable.
The way someone watches, skips and discovers video is different from listening to a host for 30 or 40 minutes.
Don’t brief them the same way. Don’t buy them the same way. And don’t measure them the same way.
Audio should be understood as audio first.
The UAE and Riyadh are different conversations
Our data shows around 75% of UAE podcast consumption is in English, while Riyadh and the Saudi market are predominantly Arabic.
But this goes far beyond translation.
Different cultural references. Different creators. Different humour. Different conversations.
I’ve worked across English and Arabic media throughout my career, and one lesson hasn’t changed:
Arabic isn’t a subtitle.
You can’t build something for one audience, translate it and assume you’ve built it for another.
Podcasting is intimate. A brand needs to understand the conversation before trying to join it.
Buy into the creator
This may be where the biggest opportunity is coming.
AI will make production easier. Programmatic will make buying easier. Technology will improve targeting. Localization will become faster. Measurement will get better.
But technology won’t replace the thing at the centre of a great podcast:
A person worth listening to.
We’re going to see more MENA creators build serious personal brands around their podcasts.
Brands should think differently about what they’re buying.
Don’t just buy the ad slot.
Buy into the creator.
Their audience might listen to the podcast, watch them on YouTube, follow them on Instagram or LinkedIn and see their clips elsewhere.
The podcast becomes the centre of a much bigger relationship.
So what makes podcast sense?
For me, it comes down to four things: intent, attention, trust and precision.
People chose to listen. They’re remarkably likely to stay with the message. They’re listening to voices they trust. And brands can plan by market, language, category and audience.
That’s a powerful combination.
If podcasting still sits at the bottom of your media brief under “other”, maybe it’s time to move it.
You don’t need to shift half your budget tomorrow.
Test it. Measure it. Brief the host, not only the studio. Explore programmatic. Think Arabic and English by market. Look beyond clicks.
And when you find the right creator, think beyond buying thirty seconds of their audience.
Because MENA audiences are already listening. Advertisers are spending more. Programmatic is opening new doors. Creators are getting stronger.
And attention is becoming harder to buy everywhere else.
After 25 years in media, I’ve learned that sometimes the opportunities that initially make the least sense are worth looking at twice.
It makes no sense to ignore a medium people are choosing to spend real time with.
It makes podcast sense.
(Patrick Samaha is the founder at Eleveight and Media Investor and shareholder)
