TV Went Streaming. Newspapers Went Digital. Audio’s Next.

Hello, and welcome to the second installment of our weekly dive. (I’m questioning this decision as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon rewriting the entire previously scheduled newsletter. But hey, we got some breaking news from Acast while I was re-writing today, so it worked out - apologies for any typos!)

June has been busy, and I can hardly believe we’re in the final stretch before the 4th of July holiday in the U.S. I've just finished advising a fund on a high 7-figure investment in a podcast company, as well as the final stages of closing a seed round for a founder. If you’re a founder or investor considering M&A, fundraising, or need strategic or operational advice in the audio space, let’s chat.

This week, I wanted to dive into the recent Nielsen data re: TV streaming, and what the data tells us about audio consumption, as well as some quick hits on Spotify, Tubi, big Acast news, and the opportunity to own the narrative and create influence via podcasts.

Welcome to the 100 or so new subscribers and Happy Midsummer to all of our Swedish friends - looking forward to the early meetings tomorrow to hear all about it 😆 Let’s get into it.

TV Went Streaming. Newspapers Went Digital. Audio’s Next.

As you’ve likely seen, Nielsen dropped the latest The Gauge this week, showing that, for the first time, streaming has overtaken the combined share of broadcast and cable TV in the U.S.

Streaming = 44.8% of all U.S. TV viewing
Broadcast + cable = 44.2%

TV, like newspapers before it, is now mostly consumed digitally, and that gap between streaming and broadcast will only get wider.

And as I’ve pointed out many times, audio is next. It’s just moving slower. But that’s a gift for investors. Let’s examine some key data points in the U.S.: