Is Podcast Advertising Still Outgrowing the Rest of Audio? What SiriusXM’s Q3 2026 Results Show

What Did SiriusXM Report on October 29, 2026?

SiriusXM reported third-quarter revenue of $2.15 billion, down slightly from a year earlier, with advertising revenue of $456 million against $455 million. The company’s earnings release, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, attributes the small revenue decline “primarily” to “lower equipment revenue due to higher memory costs,” and reports net income up 7% to $317 million. It raised its full-year guidance by $25 million each for revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow (SiriusXM 8-K).

SiriusXM reports in two segments. The satellite service, called “SiriusXM,” carries some advertising on talk, news and sports channels. The second segment, “Pandora and Off-Platform,” holds Pandora and the advertising SiriusXM sells beyond its own services; the release names podcasting, programmatic advertising and technology fees as that segment’s growth drivers. Nearly all of the company’s advertising money now sits in the second segment: $419 million of the $456 million in the quarter (SiriusXM 8-K).

The release describes that $419 million as growth of 1%, “driven by strength in podcasting, programmatic advertising and technology fees, partially offset by softer streaming music advertising, reflecting lower listening hours.” On the satellite side, “Advertising revenue declined 5% to $37 million, reflecting softer demand across news programming and direct-to-consumer advertisers, partially offset by continued strength in sports” (SiriusXM 8-K).

How Fast Did SiriusXM’s Podcast Advertising Grow?

SiriusXM says podcasting advertising grew 20% year over year in the quarter, but it does not publish the dollar amount. The figure is in the company’s earnings presentation, not the release: the segment slide says advertising revenue “increased 1% to $419 million, driven by 20% growth in podcasting, 21% growth in programmatic advertising and 11% growth in technology fees” (SiriusXM presentation). Podnews, the daily podcast-industry newsletter, made the same point: the company “doesn’t qualify how much that is” (Podnews).

Without a dollar base, 20% growth cannot be turned into a share of the $419 million. What the filings do show is that podcasting, programmatic and technology fees grew fast enough to offset declines in music streaming and satellite advertising, and only just: the segment rose by $3 million, from $416 million to $419 million (SiriusXM presentation).

Podnews also reported two details from SiriusXM that we did not find in the release or the presentation: that video and “social podcast advertising” more than doubled, and that the company “says it has had some ‘supply constraints’ within podcasting” (Podnews). Those come from a single source, the earnings call as summarized by Podnews; SiriusXM publishes the call as a webcast on its investor relations page, and we did not have a transcript to check the wording.

Is Podcast Ad Growth Slowing at SiriusXM?

Yes: the reported podcast growth rate has fallen in each of the comparisons we could source, from nearly 50% a year ago to about 30% in Q2 and 20% now. PPC Land, which covers advertising and ad technology, reported that in Q3 2025 SiriusXM’s podcast business saw “advertising revenue climbing nearly 50% year-over-year” (PPC Land). For Q2 2026, it reported that “Podcasting revenue specifically grew 30 percent year-over-year during the quarter, according to Witz’s prepared remarks” (PPC Land). SiriusXM’s own Q2 release, dated July 30, 2026, credits “strength in podcasting” but gives no percentage (SiriusXM Q2 8-K).

The table below is our arithmetic from SiriusXM’s two SEC-filed releases and its Q3 presentation. It shows the total advertising line slowing as well.

Two cautions apply. The Q2 satellite figure was lifted by the FIFA World Cup, according to the Q2 release, so part of the Q3 drop is a tough comparison rather than a collapse (SiriusXM Q2 8-K). And a growth rate falls naturally as a business gets bigger; 20% on a larger base can still be more new dollars than 50% on a smaller one. SiriusXM does not publish the base, so we cannot say which applies.

How Does SiriusXM Compare With Other Q3 Podcast Reports?

Each of the four podcast-heavy companies we compared showed growth in Q3 2026, from 25% at Acast to 10% at Spotify’s ad-supported segment, but none of the figures measure the same thing. Acast, the Swedish podcast network and ad marketplace, reported that “Net sales in the quarter amounted to SEK 802.3m (642.1), corresponding to net sales growth of 25%” (Acast). Audioboom, the London-listed podcast publisher, reported “Q3 revenue of US$23.8 million, up 17% on Q3 2025 (US$20.3 million)” and said its Showcase marketplace benefited from “the first meaningful wave of political advertising spend” (Audioboom). Spotify’s quarterly filing shows ad-supported revenue of €482 million against €437 million (Spotify 6-K).

The chart shows podcast-specific lines growing at double digits while SiriusXM’s total advertising, which is mostly music streaming and radio-style inventory, barely moved.

We covered three of those reports in detail: Acast’s Q3 results, Spotify’s ad-supported revenue and what its filing credits, and Audioboom’s trading update. SiriusXM adds a fourth data point, and the first from a company that reports podcasts beside a shrinking music-ad business.

What Does PodcastOne’s Possible Sale Add?

PodcastOne, a smaller US podcast network listed on Nasdaq, said on October 28 that several companies have approached it about an acquisition, and it has started a formal review. Its board “has formed a special committee of independent directors to oversee the process” and “intends to retain an investment banker to assist the committee,” according to the company’s announcement, distributed by ACCESS Newswire. Executive chairman Robert Ellin said: “We intend to run a rigorous, competitive process on behalf of all shareholders.” The release names no bidders and says “There can be no assurance that this process will result in a transaction” (PodcastOne release).

Coverage moved slightly ahead of the document. Podnews wrote that PodcastOne had “retained a financial advisor,” while the release says the board “intends to retain” one. Podnews also reported that the shares rose about 50% on the news to around $2.59, against more than $5 in May, and that the review followed a shareholder letter urging the company to hire an adviser (Podnews). We did not verify the share price against an exchange record.

Read together, the two reports point the same way: buyers still value podcast networks and their ad relationships, even as headline growth slows. A sale process is not a sale, though, and the company itself says none may happen.

What This Means for Anyone Buying a Placement

For sponsors and companies booking guest spots, the Q3 numbers say podcasts are still where audio ad money is moving, but buyers should expect fuller ad loads and firmer prices on the biggest shows rather than easy discounts. If the “supply constraints” Podnews reported are accurate, demand for top-tier podcast inventory is outrunning what networks can sell, which is the usual setting for higher prices and less flexibility. We could not confirm that wording ourselves, so treat it as reported, not established.

For anyone booking guests rather than ads, the commercial health of a network matters less than the audience of the individual show. Our guide to which podcasts actually work for B2B advertisers sets out what to check, and listeners’ tolerance for ads is in our report on the podcast ad-load survey. A consolidation wave, if PodcastOne’s review leads to one, can also change who sells a show’s inventory; our explainer on what a podcast network is covers what changes when a show’s seller changes.

Methodology and Limitations

Four limits apply. First, SiriusXM does not disclose podcast revenue in dollars, so we cannot size the 20% or compare it with Acast’s or Audioboom’s totals. Second, the Q2 2026 and Q3 2025 podcast growth rates come from PPC Land’s reporting of executive remarks, not from SEC filings. Third, the video, “social podcast advertising” and “supply constraints” details are single-source, from Podnews’s summary of the earnings call. Fourth, the comparison chart mixes whole-company sales, a segment and a sub-category in two currencies; it shows direction, not market share.

Conclusion

SiriusXM’s third quarter shows podcasting doing the heavy lifting inside a flat audio-advertising business: 20% growth, while music streaming and satellite ads slipped. The uncomfortable part for anyone hoping for cheaper podcast inventory is that slowing growth has not come with spare supply. On the evidence of Q3, the market is maturing, not cooling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources and Methodology

This explainer is built from SiriusXM’s Q3 2026 earnings release as filed with the SEC on Form 8-K, its Q3 2026 earnings presentation, its Q2 2026 release, PodcastOne’s October 28, 2026 announcement, the Q3 reports of Acast, Audioboom and Spotify, and trade reporting by Podnews and PPC Land, all read on October 30, 2026. Every percentage labelled “our arithmetic” was calculated by Media Morpheus Research from the dollar or euro figures in the filings. We did not listen to SiriusXM’s earnings call. Statements about what buyers should expect are our analysis, not company guidance.

1. official Sirius XM Holdings, Sirius XM Holdings Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results and Raises Full-Year Financial Guidance (Form 8-K exhibit). Revenue, advertising revenue by segment and consolidated, segment explanations, guidance. Read October 30, 2026.
2. official Sirius XM Holdings, Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Presentation. Podcasting growth of 20%, programmatic 21%, technology fees 11%; segment advertising $416m to $419m. Read October 30, 2026.
3. official Sirius XM Holdings, Second Quarter 2026 earnings release (Form 8-K exhibit). Q2 2026 advertising revenue $454m vs $432m; segment figures; World Cup. Read October 30, 2026.
4. official Sirius XM Holdings, Financial results (investor relations). Location of releases, presentation and call webcast. Read October 30, 2026.
5. official PodcastOne, PodcastOne (NASDAQ:PODC) Board of Directors Forms Special Committee and Intends to Retain Financial Advisor Following Inbound Strategic Interest (via Yahoo Finance). Special committee, inbound interest, Ellin quote, no-assurance statement. Read October 30, 2026.
6. official Acast, Q3: Record revenue, record margins. Net sales SEK 802.3m (642.1), growth of 25%. Read October 30, 2026.
7. official Audioboom Group, Q3 Trading Update. Q3 revenue US$23.8m, up 17%; political advertising. Read October 30, 2026.
8. official Spotify Technology, Form 6-K, quarter ended September 30, 2026. Ad-supported revenue €482m vs €437m. Read October 30, 2026.
9. trade press Podnews, Podnews daily newsletter, October 30, 2026. 20% figure not sized; video and social podcast advertising; supply constraints; PodcastOne share price and shareholder letter. Read October 30, 2026.
10. trade press PPC Land, SiriusXM advertising revenue gains 5% as YouTube deal nears launch. Q2 2026 podcasting growth of 30% per Witz’s prepared remarks. Read October 30, 2026.
11. trade press PPC Land, SiriusXM reports third quarter revenue of $2.16 billion with podcast growth. Q3 2025 podcast advertising growth of nearly 50%. Read October 30, 2026.