The Next Five Podcast

The Next Five is the Financial Times’ flagship branded content podcast series exploring the trends, innovations and ideas shaping the future of global business. Hosted by journalist and presenter Tom Parker, the series brings together industry leaders, experts and brand partners to examine the pivotal issues set to define the next five years, from artificial intelligence and sustainability to geopolitics, health and technology. Through balanced storytelling and insightful interviews, the podcast creates meaningful conversations that position sponsors at the centre of future-facing business dialogue.

The podcast was developed in response to growing audience demand for deeper, more thoughtful content exploring the forces reshaping industries and economies. With podcast listenership continuing to rise globally, the FT identified an opportunity to create a scalable branded content platform that combined trusted journalism with sponsor storytelling. Designed for senior, globally minded audiences, The Next Five focused on delivering expert-led discussions that balanced sponsor perspectives with independent voices, ensuring credibility, relevance and long-term audience engagement.

Each episode follows a consistent editorial structure and sound design, creating a recognisable and premium listening experience across the series. Hosted by Tom Parker, every c.20-minute episode features conversations with sponsor representatives alongside third-party experts or research perspectives, helping translate complex topics into accessible, engaging narratives. Distributed across FT.com, the FT app and major podcast platforms, the series attracted leading sponsors including Google, Slack, Standard Chartered, ON Running and Audemars Piguet.

Join the conversation on Apple Podcasts [here].

Since launch, The Next Five has built a highly engaged and loyal audience. Listeners have collectively spent more than 16,400 hours with the podcast, with an average listen-through rate of 75% and average consumption reaching approximately 19 minutes per episode. Subscriber growth on Apple Podcasts increased by 386% since early 2022, reflecting the series’ growing popularity and strong audience retention. The podcast’s success also led to the launch of new thematic mini-series, including an AI-focused series commissioned by Google.

Conclusion

The Next Five demonstrates the power of branded podcasts to create meaningful engagement through expert storytelling and future-focused conversations. By combining trusted FT journalism, high production values and sponsor integration grounded in credibility, the series has established itself as a distinctive platform for brands looking to connect with influential global audiences around the ideas shaping the future of business.

Listen to The Next Five Podcast here