Podcast sponsorship planning in Wales

What to take away

Pricing factors and booking routes

Wales has two podcast markets running side by side. One is Welsh-language, made for around 900,000 Welsh speakers and learners. The other is bilingual, where a show may switch between Welsh and English within an episode or across a series.

Welsh-language podcast sponsorship is usually sold as a flat fee per series or per episode, not as a programmatic buy. Rates vary with audience size, episode length, language and production cost.

A small Welsh-language show with a few thousand downloads per episode may sit in the low hundreds of pounds per episode. A larger bilingual show with tens of thousands of downloads can run into the low thousands per episode. These are planning ranges, not quoted rates.

Pricing often uses a cost per thousand impressions model as a starting point. The producer takes the expected downloads, applies a CPM, and adjusts for the language mix and the level of integration.

There is no public CPM benchmark for Welsh-language podcasts. The rate is set by expected downloads, language mix, slot position and production cost.

Booking follows a simple route. You brief the producer or sales house, agree the slot, sign an insertion order, supply the audio or script, and pay against invoice. Most Welsh-language deals are direct, not through a self-serve platform. There is no Welsh-language equivalent of Acast or Megaphone.

Booking steps

Lead times and copy deadlines

Typical lead times are two to four weeks from brief to first episode for a simple host read. If Welsh translation and voice casting are needed, allow four to six weeks.

Final audio or script is usually due five working days before release. Client approval is usually needed 48 hours before release. An insertion order typically lists the show, episode dates, slot position, language, fee, invoice entity, VAT status and copy deadline.

The Welsh-language and bilingual podcast market in Wales

Welsh-language output is smaller but well defined. Shows range from news and current affairs to comedy, sport, history and children's audio. Many are tied to radio brands or public funding, which affects how they can carry advertising.

The bilingual category is where most commercial inventory sits. A Cardiff-produced show might publish a Welsh episode and an English episode, or run a single feed with both languages. That gives brands a route into Welsh-speaking audiences without committing to an all-Welsh campaign.

Digital audio advertising in the UK covers podcast spots, streaming audio and radio-style online inventory, with standard formats and buying conventions set out by the IAB UK audio hub. For Welsh-language buying, the same formats apply, but the pool of shows is smaller and the language requirement narrows it further.

Reach data for Wales comes from RAJAR, which measures radio listening across the UK. RAJAR publishes quarterly listening figures that cover Wales, and these are the closest thing to a common currency for audio reach in the region. See the quarterly listening figures for the current quarter.

What counts as a Welsh-language show

A Welsh-language podcast is one where the main spoken content is in Welsh. Trailers, titles and show notes may be bilingual. Some shows are fully Welsh, some are Welsh-first with English summaries.

What counts as bilingual

Bilingual formats vary. Common patterns include alternating episodes, two hosts using different languages, or a single episode that moves between Welsh and English. Each pattern changes who you reach and how you measure it.

Cardiff producers making Welsh-language and bilingual shows

Cardiff is the centre of Welsh audio production. The city hosts independent producers, network offices and in-house teams for broadcasters. If you want a Welsh-language or bilingual podcast, this is where most conversations start.

Boom Cymru is one of the largest independent producers in Wales. It makes television, radio and podcast content in Welsh and English, and works with broadcasters and brands.

Telesgop is a Swansea and Cardiff-based producer with a long record in Welsh-language output. It has made audio and video series for Welsh broadcasters and public bodies.

Gorilla is a Cardiff production company known for factual and entertainment output. It has moved into podcast and audio commissions alongside its television work.

Bengo Media is a Cardiff audio producer that makes podcasts for brands, broadcasters and public organisations. It handles production, hosting and some sponsorship sales.

BBC Cymru Wales also commissions Welsh-language audio, including podcast versions of radio programmes. Its output is not generally open to third-party sponsorship, but it shapes the audience's habits.

Named Welsh-language audio includes BBC Radio Cymru's Bore Cothi and Taro'r Post, both of which publish podcast versions.

Most Cardiff producers offer a package: concept, recording, editing, hosting and distribution. Some also sell sponsorship slots on their own shows. A few act as a sales house for other Welsh-language podcasts.

Match the producer to the audience you want. A news and current affairs producer reaches a different listener from a comedy or sport producer. Ask for a recent episode list and audience data before you brief.

Pricing inputs and booking checklist

If you are comparing Welsh options with English ones, the same planning logic applies as for a podcast advertising target audience exercise. The difference is the smaller pool and the language filter.

Typical pricing inputs

Checklist before you book

Measurement and reporting when the audience is bilingual

Bilingual audiences are harder to count than single-language ones. A listener may hear a Welsh episode and an English episode from the same feed. Platform analytics count downloads, not people, and they do not split by language.

Start with first-party data from the producer. Ask for downloads per episode, unique listeners where available, and completion rates. For bilingual shows, ask for a language split if the producer tracks it.

Use a consistent download definition. The IAB UK publishes guidance on digital audio measurement, and its IAB UK insight archive is a useful reference for how UK digital advertising channels are sized.

Where a podcast is also broadcast on radio, RAJAR data can support the reach story. RAJAR measures radio listening, not podcast downloads, so keep the two separate in reporting.

For campaign measurement, use a unique URL or promo code per show. That gives you a clean signal on response, even when the audience is mixed-language. Post-campaign, report downloads, completion, response and any brand lift study you ran.

Reporting template

What to avoid

Do not add radio reach to podcast downloads. Do not treat a download as a listener. Do not report a bilingual show as if it were single-language without saying so.

Commissioning context and public funding expectations

Much Welsh-language audio is commissioned rather than advertiser-funded. BBC Cymru Wales, S4C and the Welsh Government's media budget all support Welsh-language content in different ways. That shapes what is available to sponsors.

Public funding usually comes with conditions. A publicly funded series may not be able to carry commercial sponsorship, or may only carry it in specific slots.

The UK government's media and advertising policy sits with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. DCMS remit covers media and advertising policy that affects the podcast sector, including the rules that surround publicly funded content.

Advertising in the UK is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority under the CAP Code. Podcast spots must be identifiable as advertising, and claims must be substantiated. The same rules apply to Welsh-language creative, so your Welsh copy needs the same compliance review as your English copy.

VAT applies to digital advertising services sold in the UK. Check whether quoted rates include VAT, and confirm the invoicing entity. If the producer is a Welsh company, you can check its filings at Companies House.

Commissioning routes

Questions to ask about funding and creative approval

Who funded the show? Can it carry sponsorship? Who approves the creative? The answers determine whether a Welsh-language show is even available to you.

What buyers outside Wales get wrong about this market

Buyers from London and the South East often treat Wales as a small version of England. It is not. The language split, the commissioning model and the smaller pool of shows all change how you plan.

The first mistake is assuming all Welsh podcasts are in Welsh. Many are bilingual or English-language shows made in Wales. If you want Welsh speakers, you have to ask for Welsh-language inventory specifically.

The second is assuming scale. Welsh-language podcasts rarely deliver the reach of a UK-wide show. Plan for a series of smaller placements rather than one large buy.

The third is treating Cardiff as the only place that matters. Cardiff dominates production, but Swansea, Bangor and Wrexham have their own shows and audiences. A Cardiff-only buy misses parts of the country.

The fourth is skipping compliance. Welsh-language creative still needs to meet ASA rules and UK GDPR requirements for any data you collect. The Information Commissioner's Office enforces UK GDPR, and podcast response mechanics often collect personal data.

The fifth is ignoring the radio link. Many Welsh-language podcasts are tied to radio brands, so RAJAR reach is part of the story. Buyers who only look at download numbers understate the audience.

Finally, buyers often arrive with a global podcast plan and a UK sales house contact. Welsh-language inventory is usually sold direct by the producer. If you want it, you have to build those relationships, in the same way you would when reviewing podcast advertising buyer personas for a UK campaign.

A worked example

A Cardiff brewery wants to reach Welsh speakers in south Wales. It books a ten-episode sponsorship of a bilingual Cardiff-produced show. The deal covers a 30-second host read per episode, in Welsh for Welsh episodes and in English for English episodes.

The producer quotes a flat fee per episode based on expected downloads. The brewery supplies two scripts, one per language, both cleared against the CAP Code. Response is tracked with a unique URL per language. After the series, the producer reports downloads, completion and response by language.

How to shortlist Cardiff producers

Shortlist three Cardiff producers. Ask each for a rate card, a recent episode list and audience data. Compare on language fit, slot availability and measurement. Then brief. If you need a wider view of the market, our guide to podcast advertising providers sets out how UK suppliers differ.

Common questions