The Podcast Atlas Study
New research from Sounds Profitable is challenging one of podcasting's biggest debates: audio versus video. Instead of treating the two as competing formats, The Podcast Atlas suggests they each play a distinct role within a broader creator ecosystem.
The study, The Podcast Atlas, was unveiled during a VidCon keynote by Sounds Profitable Partner Tom Webster. Based on a survey of more than 5,000 U.S. consumers, it examines how audiences move across five connected formats: audio podcasts, video podcasts, short-form clips, social platforms, and newsletters. At its core, the report argues that audiences are following creators, not platforms.
The research found that 73% of podcast listeners would follow a creator from audio to video, while 71% would follow that same creator from long-form content to short-form clips. Listeners appear willing to follow creators wherever they publish, not just within a single format.
Every Format Has a Role
At the center of the report is the idea that today's creator landscape isn't made up of competing channels. Instead, each format serves a different purpose in how audiences discover, engage with, and build relationships with creators.
- Audio: While much of the industry's recent conversation has centered on video growth, audio audiences reported the highest levels of trust and credibility of any format measured. Audio and video listeners also showed nearly identical episode completion rates, challenging the idea that video is replacing audio.
- Video: Audiences took a range of post-ad actions, including searching for brands, taking screenshots, writing down promo codes, and making purchases.
- Podcast Clips: The study found that 84% of people who consume podcast clips say those clips lead them to become regular listeners at least sometimes, reinforcing the role short-form content plays in audience discovery.
- Social and newsletters: Social platforms provide reach and day-to-day engagement, while newsletters create direct relationships that are independent of platform algorithms. Among newsletter subscribers, 87% said podcast newsletters lead them to listen to episodes.
Audio and Video Work Together
For some time now, industry conversations have often centered on whether video is replacing audio. The Podcast Atlas takes a different view, arguing that the two formats are complementary rather than competitive.
"Industry conversations often center on audio versus video, but that's a false choice," Webster said. "The real opportunity isn't choosing between formats, it's understanding how each format contributes to a larger audience journey."
That idea runs throughout the report. Instead of asking audiences to choose between formats, The Podcast Atlas presents podcasting as a connected system where audio, video, clips, newsletters, and social media each reinforce the creator relationship in different ways.
Looking Ahead
Sounds Profitable will explore The Podcast Atlas in greater detail in a webinar on July 1, 2026, expanding on the research first presented at VidCon. You can find more on the research and follow-up coverage on their site.
The report also highlights a familiar challenge for the industry: measurement. When audiences search for a brand after hearing a podcast ad, those actions often take place on Google, Amazon, or a retailer's website, where they may ultimately be credited to the last click rather than the podcast that sparked the initial interest. While the study doesn't focus on attribution, it reinforces how creator influence often extends beyond what traditional measurement models capture.
More than anything, The Podcast Atlas reflects how podcasting continues to evolve beyond a single medium. Rather than treating audio, video, clips, newsletters, and social media as separate channels, the research presents them as connected parts of a creator community where audiences follow people, not platforms.
Sherry Del Rizzo
Sherry leads editorial at ADOPTER Media, translating the agency's campaign experience and podcast advertising expertise into education for the industry. Her job, in short: take what ADOPTER learns from running real campaigns and turn it into something worth reading.
