Advertising on Freakonomics

Freakonomics Radio quickly rose to be one of the most popular podcasts worldwide. The show explores an alternative, often hidden side of economics, human behavior, and everyday phenomena.

While most podcasts extend into published books, Freakonomics Radio went the other way, starting in 2010 after the book became a bestseller. Hosted by Stephen J. Dubner and co-created with economist Steven Levitt, the show takes a fresh approach to understanding complex topics. They mix data, expert interviews, and counterintuitive analysis to shed light on our real-world questions.

With over 500 episodes to date, Freakonomics Radio’s popularity and success in podcasting helped it expand into a network, creating sister shows like No Stupid Questions, People I (Mostly) Admire, and The Economics of Everyday Things.

Freakonomics popularity makes it a key opportunity for advertisers and monetization. Today we’re having a look at what Freakonomics advertising looks like.

Demographics

Freakonomics Radio reaches millions of listeners a month, with 5.7 8.5 million monthly downloads. 

The audience demographics are mainly male in their older 30s, making an above average income. The show is particularly popular in the US, the UK, and Canada. It attracts an audience interested in News, Technology, Nonfiction, Politics and Economics. Their job titles tend to lean toward upper management: Directors, Managers, Vice Presidents, and Marketers.

Recent Advertisers on Freakonomics Radio

With such a massive audience, Freakonomics advertising offers some great opportunities. To get an idea of what type of brands they align with, here are some recent brands that have been featured:

• T-Mobile US: a leading mobile company

• Capital One: a US bank and financial institution

• Unilever: a multinational consumer goods company

• Mint Mobile: US-based mobile service provider

• US Bank: bank and financial services institution

Advertising Cost

Wondering what the cost of advertising on Freakonomics Radio might be? Here’s some estimates.

• Pre-roll ads go for $9,500 - $14,100

• Mid-roll might be about $19,100 - $28,200

• Post-roll for $6,400 - $9,400

It’s good to mention that these are podcast rates for audio-only, but we can imagine the show makes some income from its YouTube as well.

Management

There’s no clear information about who manages Freakonomics Radio advertising, we can imagine that they do it all in-house. 

Summing up Freakonomics Radio Advertising

As you can see Freakonomics Radio has been able to make good income from advertising. It presents a great opportunity for brands looking to get into podcast advertising as it has an enormous reach. Keep browsing our other advertising articles to see how different shows stack up.