As 2025 comes to an end, we’re looking back at the blog posts that resonated the most. Here are our top 5 most popular audio insights posts of the year in descending order:

5. The Extraordinary Cost of Dull: Boring Ads Require 2X To 2.6X Greater Media Spend To Achieve Same Impact As Interesting Ads: In January, we shared a report from creative testing giant System1, Adam Morgan, founder of ad agency eatbigfish, Jon Evans, Chief Customer Officer of System1 and host of Uncensored CMO, and Peter Field, the legendary “godfather of marketing effectiveness,” revealing that brands must spend significantly more media money on dull ads compared to interesting, non-dull ads. They key finding from the piece? Simply put, boring ads cost a fortune.

4. Advertiser Perceptions: Podcast Advertising Usage And Spending Intention Explode To Eleven-Year High Among Agencies And Marketers: In advance of the first IAB Podcast Upfront in 2015, the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® commissioned Advertiser Perceptions to study agency and brand sentiment on podcast advertising. For the last eleven years, the study has been reprised annually to track buy-side podcast advertising consideration and intention. Our fourth most read blog post examined the latest June 2025 results, revealing advertiser/agency podcasting usage and interest had reached an eleven-year high.

3. Perception Vs. Reality: Eight Things Brands Get Wrong About AM/FM Radio: Ad industry perceptions of media audiences are often completely opposite reality. In September, we challenged the narrative and looked at some evidence by collecting frequently heard media agency and marketer myths. Using data from research leaders Nielsen, LeadsRx, and Edison Research, we disproved eight of the biggest misperceptions brands hold about AM/FM radio.

2. Creative Best Practices Handbook: Best Practices From Marketing Effectiveness Leaders And Advertising Measurement Firms: The second most popular blog featured the release of the Creative Best Practices Handbook. The Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® has tested hundreds of audio ads over the years working with the leading experts in creative testing: ABX, Veritonic, and System1. The findings from those tests, along with marketing effectiveness and creative strategy work from industry giants, have been combined to form comprehensive Audio Creative Best Practices. In January, those best practices were distilled and summarized in a Creative Best Practices Handbook.

And our most popular post…

1. Audio Remains The Primary Mode Of Podcast Consumption, Despite Growing Video Use; 92% Say They “Listen” To Podcasts, According To Cumulus Media And Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download – Fall 2025 Report: In November we released Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights’ Podcast Download – Fall 2025 Report, the fifteenth in the twice annual series of studies analyzing the media habits of weekly podcast consumers. Our most popular blog post highlighted the comparison between podcast viewers and listeners, revealing how the rising use of video hasn’t detracted from podcasts primarily being a “listening” medium.

Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer of the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group®.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.