How to advertise on The MeatEater Podcast: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

Host-read direct response accounts for more than 9 in 10 of the ad activity Spotsnow tracks on The MeatEater Podcast, and the show sells that inventory through The MeatEater Podcast Network, quoted per campaign rather than off a public rate card. The anchor buyer, T-Mobile, has run roughly 72 to 84 ads here, per Spotsnow. That mix tells a buyer this is a coded, attributable feed, not a place you park a brand impression and hope. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys.

Why The MeatEater Podcast is built for host-read direct response

Steven Rinella hosts, an outdoorsman, writer, and TV host who built the MeatEater brand around hunting, fishing, and wild food. The show sits in the leisure category, an outdoors feed for people who already spend on gear.

Spotsnow data shows direct-response reads make up well over 90% of tracked ads. That matters because the format runs on codes, URLs, and attribution: the host says the offer, the listener acts, and the brand can see it. Spotsnow estimates the show reaches roughly 750,000 listeners per episode, and that figure is an estimate, not an audited count.

The reason a host-read holds here is Rinella's format. Episodes run long and conversational, guests dig into a single subject, and the ad break lands inside that same rhythm instead of interrupting it. Attention carries through the read because the host carries it. A host endorsement borrows that trust, which is exactly what a coded offer needs to convert.

The show's influence is concentrated in the feed and across the wider MeatEater ecosystem of shows, video, and commerce, rather than spread thinly across separate social channels. For a buyer, that concentration is the point: the audience shows up for the podcast itself, which is where your read runs.

Who is advertising on The MeatEater Podcast

Spotsnow tracks a deep roster here, roughly 106 to 124 brands over the last three months, a mix of endemic outdoors gear and big national names. Recognizable buyers include T-Mobile, WeatherTech, Tractor Supply, Walmart, and BetterHelp.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

T-Mobile

T-Mobile sells wireless service, phones, and home internet. Spotsnow attributes roughly 72 to 84 ads on the show and estimated total spend of over $1M, classified entirely direct-response. A national carrier fits because this is a broad, US-heavy, working-age audience that buys phones and plans like everyone else, and the reach travels well beyond the hunting niche.

OnX Hunt

OnX Hunt makes GPS mapping apps that show land boundaries and public access for hunters. Spotsnow estimates total spend over $500K, mostly host-read direct-response. It's about as native as a fit gets: the app solves a problem this exact audience has every time they head into the field.

WeatherTech

WeatherTech makes custom-fit floor mats, liners, and truck protection, all made in the US. Spotsnow estimates total spend over $500K, almost entirely host-read. Muddy boots and truck beds sell themselves to a listener who drives to the trailhead, which is why the read lands.

The outlier: American Public University

Not everything here is coded DR. American Public University runs heavy volume, but almost entirely as produced spots rather than host endorsements, an awareness and brand play aimed at a service-minded, working-age audience. It's proof that a non-DR objective can still work on this feed.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why outdoors brands cluster here

The pull is authority plus intent. Rinella isn't a personality reading a script, he's a practitioner the audience treats as a source, so when he vouches for a mapping app or a floor liner it reads as a recommendation, not an interruption. And the listener showed up in buying mode. This is a crowd that spends real money on gear, licenses, trucks, and land, and they arrive at the feed already thinking about what they need for the next trip. Endemic brands like OnX Hunt and First Lite are native to that mindset; T-Mobile and WeatherTech prove the audience is broad enough to convert on things that have nothing to do with hunting. That combination, a trusted host and a ready-to-spend audience, is why coded reads keep coming back.

How your ad could sound

Here's a real host-read from the show, a Mountain Dew spot, to hear the format in practice.

What works: the read opens on the host's own summer, floating a creek, metal detecting, turning up an old horseshoe, before the product ever surfaces. That personal framing earns attention, and the tie-in to a summer outdoors setting feels natural rather than bolted on. The handoff into the brand is smooth.

What's worth improving: there's no code, no urgency, and the call to action stays vague, essentially "look for it in stores." The read leans on "if you're looking for the perfect companion to your summer adventures," which sets a mood but never asks for a trackable action. For a DR buyer, that's the fix: add a promo code or a dedicated URL so the read can prove it converted.

View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. The format does the selling. Direct-response host-reads make up well over 90% of tracked ads, so the endorsement and the offer arrive in one voice.
2. Host credibility transfers. Rinella is treated as an authority on the outdoors, and that trust carries into whatever he reads.
3. The audience is ready to spend. An estimated 750,000 listeners, mostly men, mostly US, prime working-age, and comfortable on income, arrive already shopping for gear.
4. Repeat buying proves the math. T-Mobile has run roughly 72 to 84 ads here; brands don't buy that many times unless the reads pay back.

The MeatEater Podcast in a nutshell

The audience skews strongly male, mostly US, prime working-age, and comfortable on household income, the kind of buyers who spend on gear and trucks. Endemic names like OnX Hunt and WeatherTech buy alongside national brands like T-Mobile, almost all on host-read reads, with a produced-spot outlier or two proving awareness plays too. The show is sold through The MeatEater Podcast Network on a quoted, per-campaign basis. If your goal is coded, attributable direct response, this is a strong fit; if it's pure awareness, it can still work, but the feed is built for the former.