2026-11-01 · MKDB Research

What independent media actually charge for ads — counted from 115 public rate cards

Most ad pricing hides behind sales calls. Independent media publish theirs. We counted every public rate in the MKDB database — and the pattern says a lot about where media buying is heading.

Ask a big media company what an ad costs and you get a meeting. Ask an independent newsletter, podcast or creator, and there is a decent chance you get a number — published on a page anyone can read. That difference is the entire reason MKDB exists. So we counted what the database holds today: 187 independent media profiles from 32 countries, 115 of them with a public rate anyone can check, each with its source.

Who publishes prices — and who doesn't

The transparency ranking is not what most advertisers expect. Influencers and creators are the most open: 17 of 19 profiles publish rates — a sponsored post, a Reel, a story, each with a price tag, because their whole business runs on inbound brand deals. Niche publishers come next (51 of 76), then newsletters (25 of 49). Podcasts land at 14 of 23. And YouTube channels are the most guarded of the independents: only 8 of 20 publish a price, while the rest work through managers, agencies or 'rates on request'.

What a podcast sponsorship actually costs

Podcast pricing is where the public data gets concrete. Among the shows in the database with a published dollar figure, the first listed price runs from $50 an episode for a small fiction show to $3,000 a week for an established tech show — with working examples all along the ladder: $350 (EcomCrew), $1,200 (Practical AI), $1,000 (AUTM on the Air). There is no single 'podcast CPM' hiding in there; there is a ladder, and where a show sits on it is mostly audience trust, not raw downloads.

The pattern underneath

Line the numbers up and one rule explains almost all of it: the more a media property sells through relationships and agencies, the less it publishes; the more it sells directly, the more it publishes. Public pricing is not a personality trait — it is a sales model. Media that live on direct deals treat the rate card as a storefront. Media that live on negotiated deals treat it as a secret.

For advertisers, that flips the usual workflow. Instead of starting with a sales call, you can start with a shortlist built on real, published numbers — then negotiate with full knowledge of the ladder. That is what the database below is for.