As editor-in-chief of Prisa Audio, Ana Ribera Garcia-Rubio can promote a medium she personally loves — the podcast.

The Madrid-based Prisa Audio is now the world’s second-largest audio streaming company, behind the American iHeartMedia, and the largest in the Spanish language. The platform produces 1,200 different podcasts in Spanish, which include original as well as third-party and branded programming, 

Garcia-Rubio said she first came to appreciate the potential of podcasts some years ago when she had a long car commute. More than either broadcast radio or social media, she saw the podcast format lends itself to a wide variety of programming styles in terms of topic, style, and genre.

“With audio, we can do practically everything,” she told INMA’s recent Latin-American Conference. Daily national news round-ups, true crime series, fiction audiobooks, and niche programming on subjects like cycling have all found large and enthusiastic podcast audiences on Prisa.

Podcast consumption continues to grow globally with recent technological advances and lifestyle helping to expand the market. Everything from the emergence of cheaper wireless headphones to improved bandwidth for streaming to more audio-centric audience habits due to Alexa and Siri are setting the stage, Garcia-Rubio said. 

The Spanish-speaking market is the world’s second-largest podcast market, second to English, with a potential audience that includes the world’s 477 million native Spanish speakers. Spain, Prisa’s homebase, is one of the most mature Spanish-speaking markets and accounts for 40% of the podcast market, with Mexico next at 33%, and Argentina at 29%. 

The audiences in many Latin American audiences have started developing more recently and are very ripe for growth. Chile, for instance, has responded eagerly to several podcasts Prisa launched in 2022 including the supernatural fiction thriller “Corderos,” and the comedy talk show “Expertas en Nada,” now the top podcast in Chile.

Prisa’s strategy is to offer a wide range of distinctive brands, each with different personalities to appeal to particular fans. The strength of Prisa is that each podcast is independent, which gives the company an extensive reach. Individual podcasts may be targeted toward particular countries or towards particular interests that cut across borders like cycling, heavy metal music, and LGBTQ+ issues. 

Some of Prisa’s biggest success include “Criminopatia,” an international true crime series, “Hoy en El País,” daily news round-ups from Spanish daily El País, owned by parent company Prisa Group, and “Estriando El Chicle,” a comedy talk show aimed at young women.

All together, the outlook for Spanish-language podcasts is at an exciting moment for expansion, from both the business and cultural perspectives, Garcia-Rubio said: “No matter where we are in the world, we can share ideas this way and learn a lot.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .