Introducing the Bumper Dashboard — podcast measurement without the hassle
Today, we launch The Bumper Dashboard: a measurement tool that combines podcast data from a number of different sources to allow podcasters to see the true performance of their show. The Bumper Dashboard is now available to all of our clients.
Podcast measurement is complex
In 2024 it continues to be unreasonably difficult to measure the success of a podcast.
There are simply too many data sources that need to be combined every day to measure the actual consumption of a podcast instead of simply the delivery of audio files (aka downloads). Some podcast apps give us amazing data, but they act as silos. It's hard to find useful ways to act on the wealth of data that’s available to podcasters.
For those that manage multiple shows, combining all the relevant data to make the best editorial, growth and business decisions is a near-impossible task. It’s simply too time-consuming to get all the relevant data into one place on a regular basis.
The Bumper Dashboard solves this problem
Our new measurement aggregation tool brings the most important podcast metrics into one place, ingested from a number of services: your podcast hosting provider, marketing attribution services, and popular podcast apps (including YouTube). This way, podcasters don’t have to log in to multiple dashboards to compare analytics. No need to download CSV files from multiple sources. No need to toggle through multiple web browser tabs. Everything is in one place, updated automatically.
Today, the Bumper Dashboard includes:
Average listen time
Followers
Downloads
Data is available at the show level, as well as for individual episodes.
Show-level view of The Bumper Dashboard
Over the past year, the podcast industry has learned that downloads can be a poor way to measure the size of an audience. Many podcasters have seen declining download numbers because of updates to Apple Podcasts as part of iOS17, and revisions to the IAB’s definitions. However, audience numbers (as measured in verified listeners) have strikingly not seen the same trend. In fact, many Bumper clients have actually noticed an increase in verified listeners while downloads are pointing in the opposite direction!
Bringing growth trends to the surface
This show has been seeing a decline in downloads since the Fall of 2023. Like many other popular podcasts, the iOS17 update has put a dent into the download numbers as reported by the podcast hosting provider:
However, after reviewing the Bumper Dashboard, this client discovered that the number of listeners (actual people who hit play) has been increasing:
In other words, even though the monthly downloads of this podcast have been decreasing over the past year, the audience continued to grow. The podcasters had been fully unaware and, as a result, tried to find strategies for an audience growth problem that didn’t exist.
With the Bumper Dashboard, podcasters can discover such insights in a matter of minutes and make the best growth decisions for a show.
The Bumper Dashboard is now available to all of our clients.