Standard Media Index is now a Guideline company. Learn more

Podcast CPMs in Canada Reached $28 in 2021, Out-pacing the Pricing of OTT at $20



Standard Media Index expands Pricing Intelligence Suite to Canadian market, analyzing $6.3 billion in Canadian market ad spend

Toronto (April 6, 2022)– Podcast CPMs in Canada reached $28 in 2021, out-pacing the pricing of OTT at $20.

This is according to Standard Media Index’s Canadian Pricing Intelligence Suite, which is launching today and is based on actual spend data from SMI’s pool partners of major holding companies and large independent agencies, representing $6.3 billion in Canadian advertising spend.

“Much like the US, the consumption of podcasts has accelerated in Canada, and we’re seeing Canadian advertisers pay similarly high pricing as US advertisers to reach these engaged audiences,” said Darrick Li, Managing Director, Canada at SMI. “In fact, Podcast CPMs are almost double Streaming Audio CPMs right now and that’s likely driven by the scarcity of podcast inventory available compared to other streaming channels.”

This launch comes after SMI first introduced this advanced suite of pricing intelligence tools to the US market last summer, addressing increased need for better visibility into cross-screen spend and pricing. The Canadian Pricing Intelligence Suite includes Digital CPM for streaming video and audio, as well as Linear TV eCPM (effective CPM).

“There is a crucial need for the Canadian advertising ecosystem to gain more visibility into industry pricing and market trends,” continued Li. “Pricing transparency enables the market to fairly determine what pricing should be, for both the buy- and sell-side.   SMI Canada’s pricing solutions will enable advertisers to gain a holistic picture of the competitive marketplace to make effective ad buys across the media ecosystem while publishers can better understand what premium they can charge, making the most of their inventory and audience.”

SMI’s Digital CPM metrics for digital video provide unparalleled visibility into market CPM for premium and non-premium digital video, including the OTT supply chain, as well as digital audio. Their exclusive digital classifications explore pricing data by placement type, allowing clients to compare pricing across the digital ecosystem including Broadcaster VOD, OTT Pureplay, Programmatic, Social buys, Podcasts, Streaming Audio, and more. The new data set will include average CPM by Publisher, Placements, Ad Type, Ad Format and Publisher Type, as well as Price Impact Attribute weighting by targeting tactic, ad format, ad duration, buy type, and more.

For example, the offering revealed that third-party programmatic CPMs average $18 on In-Stream Video and that share of spending is driven by Financial Services & Insurance and Automotive advertisers, representing almost half (43%) of all spend. Additionally, In Q4 2021, CPMs for Direct-purchased In-stream Online Video were up 15.6% YoY.

The Pricing Intelligence Suite will also offer data sets for Linear TV eCPMs. By combining SMI’s TV unit-level pricing data, taken from real agency spend, with third party viewership and impressions data from leading measurement companies, the new product suite will include TV eCPM for standard demo-based audiences.

The suite shows that English Conventional TV averaged $25 eCPM to reach the 25-54 demographic at the start of the 2020-2021 broadcast year, and grew 29% YoY to $28 eCPM at the start of the 2021-2022 broadcast year.  Additionally, Conventional TV Primetime averaged $30.25 eCPM for the 18-49 audience at the start of the 2020-2021 broadcast year, and grew 23.4% YoY to $37.25 eCPM at the start of the 2021-2022 broadcast year.

For more information on SMI’s Canadian Pricing Intelligence Suite, please visit https://www.standardmediaindex.com/products-and-services/the-americas/canada/.


Standard Media Index is now a Guideline company

Learn more