Is Podcast Advertising Still Growing? What Acast’s Q3 2026 Results Show

What Did Acast Report for Q3 2026?

Acast reported its highest-ever quarterly revenue: net sales of SEK 802.3m for July to September 2026, up 25% from SEK 642.1m a year earlier, with record adjusted margins. Acast AB is a Stockholm-listed podcast hosting and advertising company that describes itself as “the world’s largest pure-play podcast company,” connecting “140,000+ storytellers with 4,000+ advertisers globally” (Acast interim report). It sells ads into the shows it hosts and represents, and pays creators a share, the model our guide to podcast networks describes.

The interim report, published at 07:00 Stockholm time on October 28, 2026 under the headline “Q3: Record revenue, record margins,” gives these group figures for the quarter, with the prior-year quarter in parentheses (Acast release):

Chief executive Greg Glenday wrote that “Acast delivered another record quarter in Q3 2026, with our highest-ever revenue and our highest adjusted EBITDA and EBIT margins to date” (Acast interim report). For the nine months to September 30, net sales were SEK 2,222.8m (1,784.3), also up 25%, with organic growth of 26%.

Where Did the Growth Come From?

Almost all of it came from North America, which grew 54% to SEK 384.0m and overtook Europe as Acast’s largest segment. The report says the North American increase reflects “expanding sales within omnichannel and synergies from the acquisition of Wonder Media Network,” plus SEK 27.9m from Backyard Ventures, a US network of “200+ creators” across audio, YouTube, newsletters and social that Acast acquired on August 11, 2026. Stripping out acquisitions and currency, North America grew 41% (Acast interim report).

The chart shows a company growing at very different speeds in its two big regions: North America at more than ten times Europe’s reported rate.

Our own arithmetic from the segment table on page 8 of the report makes the shift clearer. Group net sales rose by SEK 160.1m. North America accounted for SEK 135.3m of that, or about 85%; Europe for SEK 16.4m (about 10%); Other Markets for SEK 8.4m (about 5%). Of North America’s SEK 135.3m increase, Backyard Ventures supplied SEK 27.9m, about 21%, so most of the region’s growth came from the business Acast already had.

Shares are our calculation from Acast’s reported segment net sales (SEK 383,992k, 361,863k and 56,403k in Q3 2026; 248,691k, 345,495k and 47,963k in Q3 2025).

Why Did Europe Grow Only 5%?

Acast attributes it to a tough comparison and a strong second quarter, not to a collapse in demand. The report says Europe’s lower growth “reflects a tough comparison and also follows a strong second quarter that was partly supported by advertiser activity around the World Cup.” Organic growth in Europe was 3% in the quarter, and the small Wake Word Studios acquisition contributed SEK 3.8m (Acast interim report).

The nine-month figure supports that reading: Glenday wrote that “Over the first nine months Europe has grown 16% organically.” In July, Acast had reported Europe growth of 25% for the second quarter (Acast Q2 release). Acast has also hired Liv Sandberg, who leads advertising across 17 markets at TikTok, as EVP, Europe; she joins “in early 2027” to run the region “as one market for the first time.” Podnews pointed out that she “doesn’t start until early 2027” (Podnews).

Is the Growth From More Listening or From Higher Prices?

Mostly from earning more per listen: listens and views rose 4%, while average revenue per listen or view rose 20%. Multiplied together, those two rates (1.04 × 1.20) give roughly the 25% sales growth Acast reported, which is our arithmetic check, not a figure in the report. Glenday wrote that growth “is driven both by an expanding base of monetizable inventory, and by making that inventory more valuable” (Acast interim report).

Buyers should read ARPLV carefully. Acast defines it as “Net sales divided by number of listens and views for the same period,” and counts “all IAB-valid listens, plus HLS listens and views,” where HLS is the HTTP Live Streaming video format Apple uses for video podcasts (Acast interim report, Note 11). Two consequences follow, on our reading of that definition. First, it is not an ad price: it divides all net sales, whatever channel they came from, by listens. Second, since the second quarter of 2026 the measure includes HLS views, so ARPLV from Q2 2026 onward is not strictly comparable with the older “average revenue per listen” Acast reported before. Revenue from formats whose views are not counted, such as YouTube videos from a network like Backyard, adds to the numerator but not to the denominator. Our explainer on HLS video for podcasts covers the format, and what changed in the podcast download rules explains what an “IAB-valid” listen means.

How Does Acast’s Quarter Compare With Other Podcast Companies?

Acast grew faster than the other podcast businesses that have reported the same quarter, but the figures use different currencies and definitions. The table puts the reported numbers side by side; it is our compilation from each company’s own release, and the rows are not directly comparable.

Spotify’s figure covers all advertising, including music, and Audioboom’s is an unaudited trading update. Taken together, three companies with different footprints all grew advertising revenue in the third quarter, and the two podcast specialists both cited video or omnichannel inventory as a driver.

What Does the Report Say, Versus How It Was Reported?

The core figures match, with one exception: Podnews’s summary said “net sales grew +25% to SEK 820.3mn (around US $80m)”, while Acast’s report says SEK 802.3m. Podnews also reported “the US market growing +54%”; Acast’s 54% figure is for its North America segment, which the report does not break down by country (Podnews; Acast interim report). The SEK 820.3mn figure appears to be a transposition; Podnews’s own reprint of the release gives SEK 802.3m (Podnews press release page). We use the report’s figures throughout.

A second detail sits in the report itself: the quarterly table on page 29 lists Q2 2026 organic growth as 30%, while the July release said 29%. The difference is small and the report does not explain it.

What This Means for Anyone Buying a Podcast Placement

The money is following North American shows and multi-format creators, and that tends to support prices rather than lower them. Acast’s own research, which it cites in the report and which we have not independently checked, says “88% of listeners consume both audio and video (up from 78% last year), and 63% have started an episode in one format and finished it in another.” Glenday says brands increasingly want “a single point of entry to access every channel,” while noting that “podcast revenue is still overwhelmingly audio.”

For a company booking sponsorships or guest spots, three practical points follow. First, rising revenue per listen at the largest ad seller is a reason to expect firm, not falling, rates in 2027 planning, especially in the US; our guide to what a podcast guest spot costs sets out how pricing is usually structured. Second, “omnichannel” packages that bundle audio, video, newsletter and social should be priced and reported channel by channel, because a blended figure like ARPLV hides where the value is. Third, ask whether a spot is host-read and baked into the episode or placed by dynamic ad insertion, because the two behave differently in back catalog and are often priced differently.

Methodology and Limitations

Four limits apply. First, this report rests on Acast’s own interim report and release, which the company says is “a translation of the Swedish original,” with the Swedish version taking precedence. Second, interim figures are company-reported; the figures are reviewed, not audited: KPMG’s review report in the document says a review “is substantially less in scope than an audit” and that “we do not express an audit opinion.” Third, our shares, contributions and the comparison table are our arithmetic, rounded to one decimal place, and the comparison mixes currencies and definitions. Fourth, ARPLV changed definition in Q2 2026 to include HLS views, so long-run comparisons of revenue per listen should be treated with caution.

Conclusion

Podcast advertising is still growing at Acast, and fast: 25% in a quarter when its listens grew 4%. The uncomfortable part for buyers is that the growth is coming from earning more per listen, not from many more listeners, and that the strongest demand is in the US. That is good news for creators and sellers, and a sign that buyers should negotiate on audited delivery and channel-level reporting rather than on headline reach.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources and Methodology

This Data Report is built from Acast’s interim report for January to September 2026 and its release, both read on October 28, 2026, the day they were published, with Acast’s Q1 and Q2 2026 releases for context, and Podnews’s coverage the same morning. Segment shares, contributions to growth and the cross-company table are our own arithmetic and compilation, labelled as such; the advice on buying placements is our recommendation, not anything Acast says. We did not test Acast’s audience research or audit any figure.

1. official Acast AB (publ), Interim Report January — September 2026. All Q3 and nine-month figures, segment net sales, KPI definitions (Note 11), quarterly table, CEO comments. Read October 28, 2026.
2. official Acast via MFN, “Q3: Record revenue, record margins”. Release headline, timing and summary figures. Read October 28, 2026.
3. official Acast via MFN, “Q2: 29% organic growth and continued strengthening of offering”. Q2 2026 figures, Europe 25%. Read October 28, 2026.
4. official Acast via MFN, “Q1: Strong profitable growth”. Q1 2026 figures and the earlier ARPL measure. Read October 28, 2026.
5. trade press Podnews, daily update, October 28, 2026. Same-day reporting of the results. Read October 28, 2026.
6. trade press Podnews, Acast Q3/26 press release page. Reprint of the release. Read October 28, 2026.
7. live read Media Morpheus Research, Did Audioboom’s Podcast Revenue Grow in Q3 2026?. Audioboom comparison figures, from its October 14, 2026 RNS. Read October 28, 2026.
8. live read Media Morpheus Research, Spotify Q3 2026 ad-supported revenue report. Spotify comparison figures, from its Q3 2026 update and Form 6-K. Read October 28, 2026.