DeepIntent unifies audio and CTV for healthcare advertising with new package

DeepIntent announced the launch of its HealthFirst Audio Package on Sept. 30, 2025, marking a significant expansion of the company's media offerings for healthcare advertisers. The new package provides access to premium digital audio inventory from iHeartMedia, SiriusXM Media, and other streaming publishers through the DeepIntent demand-side platform.

The launch follows the company's earlier introduction of its HealthFirst FAST package. DeepIntent positions itself as the first major healthcare DSP to unify connected TV and audio under a single suite, aiming to reach patients and healthcare providers during what the company describes as high-attention, screen-free moments.

Chris Paquette, founder and CEO of DeepIntent, stated that audio represents a powerful complement to omnichannel strategies. "By bringing our HealthFirst framework to premium streaming audio, we're giving healthcare advertisers a powerful way to drive outcomes with patients and providers through one of the most resonant, high-growth and high-performing channels in digital media," Paquette said.

The timing aligns with broader shifts in media consumption patterns. EMARKETER data indicates U.S. consumers will spend an average of 1 hour and 25 minutes per day with digital audio in 2025. This figure falls just 2 minutes short of the time Americans spend browsing social media platforms daily, suggesting digital audio has achieved near-parity with social media in terms of audience attention.

Healthcare provider reach through audio channels

DeepIntent's internal analysis reveals that more than 69% of healthcare providers can be reached through the premium inventory included in the HealthFirst Audio Package. This metric holds particular significance for pharmaceutical marketers who must balance broad consumer outreach with targeted messaging to medical professionals.

John Lilliquist, senior vice president at iHeartMedia Health, characterized the partnership as a response to growing demand. "This launch reflects the growing demand for audio as a trusted and high-performing medium in the pharma space and will bring healthcare brands the precision, quality, compliance and scale they need to reach their audiences," Lilliquist said. He noted that the partnership creates opportunities to activate premium patient and provider audiences against premium inventory.

The platform's focus on healthcare-specific targeting comes at a time when pharmaceutical advertisers are navigating complex digital advertising landscapes, requiring specialized tools that address regulatory compliance alongside performance goals. Google has implemented multiple policy updates affecting healthcare advertisers in 2025, including new certification requirements for personalized targeting involving pharmaceutical terminology in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.

Technical specifications and platform integration

The HealthFirst Audio Package operates within the existing DeepIntent DSP infrastructure. The offering includes several technical components designed specifically for pharmaceutical advertising requirements. Premium media access provides optimized inventory from the partner publishers. Patient and provider reach capabilities leverage purpose-built audience connections. Streamlined activation enables fast setup within the DSP interface. Transparency and trust features ensure fraud-free supply aligned with pharmaceutical advertising standards.

These technical specifications address ongoing concerns in programmatic audio advertising, where verification and compliance remain critical issues for regulated industries like healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Amazon and SiriusXM recently expanded programmatic audio reach through strategic DSP integration, providing marketers using Amazon DSP access to SiriusXM Media's 160 million monthly digital listeners.

Francis D'Hondt, senior vice president of addressable health at KINESSO, described programmatic audio as presenting an "incredible opportunity for healthcare marketers." D'Hondt emphasized audio's ability to deliver highly relevant messaging in what he termed an attention-rich format. "We're excited about DeepIntent's HealthFirst Audio Package, which makes activating in this channel more impactful than ever," D'Hondt stated.

Market context for healthcare DSP expansion

The expansion into audio represents a strategic move for DeepIntent within the healthcare advertising technology sector. The company describes itself as a leading healthcare demand-side platform, purpose-built to help marketers plan, activate, and optimize data-driven campaigns. DeepIntent's platform unites media, identity, and real-world clinical data to enable privacy-safe, omnichannel marketing across multiple screens.

The platform's technical foundation includes patented technology designed to deliver measurable audience quality and script lift at scale. Script lift, a key performance indicator in pharmaceutical marketing, measures the increase in prescription volume attributable to advertising campaigns.

The healthcare advertising sector has seen increasing sophistication in targeting and measurement capabilities. As regulatory frameworks evolve and privacy requirements tighten, specialized platforms like DeepIntent have positioned themselves to address the unique needs of pharmaceutical and healthcare marketers. Healthcare advertising certification requirements have become increasingly complex across different jurisdictions, with platforms implementing comprehensive verification processes.

Digital audio's characteristics make it particularly suited for certain healthcare marketing objectives. Unlike visual media, audio delivers uninterrupted exposure during activities like commuting, exercising, or working. The format builds what industry practitioners describe as contextual and emotional resonance, reinforcing messaging delivered through other channels.

Implications for pharmaceutical marketing strategies

The audio package launch reflects broader trends in pharmaceutical marketing budgets. Traditional channels like television continue to command significant spending, but digital channels have gained share rapidly. Audio sits at the intersection of traditional broadcast heritage and digital targeting capabilities, offering scale comparable to radio with precision unavailable in traditional broadcast.

For pharmaceutical brands, the ability to reach healthcare providers through audio channels presents particular value. Physicians and other medical professionals spend considerable time in transit or engaged in activities compatible with audio consumption. Reaching these audiences outside clinical settings allows for different types of messaging than traditional sales representative visits or medical journal advertising.

The partnership structure between DeepIntent, iHeartMedia, and SiriusXM brings together distinct capabilities. iHeartMedia operates the largest radio broadcasting company in the United States, with extensive digital streaming operations. SiriusXM provides satellite radio services and operates Pandora, a leading streaming audio platform. These partnerships give DeepIntent access to both broad reach and specific audience segments.

The HealthFirst Audio Package is now available for activation within the DeepIntent DSP. The company did not disclose pricing structures or minimum spending requirements for accessing the package. Healthcare advertisers working with agencies or directly with DeepIntent can now incorporate audio into campaigns alongside connected TV, display, and other digital formats.

The audio expansion also connects to broader developments in healthcare marketing technology, where platforms increasingly seek to offer unified access to multiple media types while maintaining the compliance and measurement standards required by pharmaceutical advertisers. Connected TV adoption has accelerated among pharmaceutical and medical advertisers, with 24.1% of impressions allocated to CTV according to recent research analyzing 224.2 billion TV advertising impressions.

As digital audio consumption continues to grow and approaches parity with social media in terms of daily time spent, healthcare advertisers now have additional tools to reach both consumer and professional audiences. The integration of audio into the HealthFirst suite provides pharmaceutical marketers with another option for omnichannel campaigns targeting patients and providers.

Industry data suggests a measurement gap persists in audio advertising. Despite digital audio commanding 20% of all time spent with digital media, audio investment represents only 2.9% of total digital advertising revenue, according to data from April 2025. This disparity creates challenges for audio advertising platforms seeking proportional investment levels from marketers.

The programmatic audio landscape has evolved significantly throughout 2025. Spotify launched its Ad Exchange (SAX)in April 2025, enabling real-time bidding for advertising inventory and expanding advertiser access to its 251 million Gen Z listeners. The platform reported a 64% increase in programmatic adoption following the launch, demonstrating advertiser interest in automated buying capabilities.

For healthcare marketers specifically, the convergence of audio and connected TV capabilities addresses fragmentation challenges that have complicated omnichannel campaign execution. The ability to activate both media types through a single platform streamlines campaign management while maintaining the specialized compliance and measurement requirements that distinguish healthcare advertising from other sectors.

Timeline

• Sept. 30, 2025: DeepIntent announces HealthFirst Audio Package with iHeartMedia and SiriusXM partnerships
• August 2025: DeepIntent launches HealthFirst FAST package for connected TV advertising
• September 2025: Amazon and SiriusXM expand programmatic audio reach through strategic DSP integration
• August 2025: Google simplifies healthcare ad enforcement by removing content label
• July 2025: Google launches restricted drug term certification for healthcare advertisers
• July 2025: Google expands telemedicine advertising to UK and Singapore markets
• July 2025: Spotify expands automated podcast buying to 170 million listeners
• April 2025: Spotify launches programmatic ad exchange and AI-powered creative tools

Summary

Who: DeepIntent, a healthcare demand-side platform, partnered with iHeartMedia and SiriusXM Media to launch a new advertising package. The offering targets pharmaceutical brands, healthcare marketers, and their agencies.

What: The HealthFirst Audio Package provides healthcare advertisers with access to premium digital audio inventory through a turnkey solution. The package unifies connected TV and audio under one suite, enabling precision targeting of patients and healthcare providers. DeepIntent's analysis shows the package can reach more than 69% of healthcare providers through premium audio inventory.

When: DeepIntent announced the HealthFirst Audio Package on Sept. 30, 2025. The offering is immediately available for activation within the DeepIntent DSP.

Where: The package operates within the DeepIntent demand-side platform and provides access to digital audio inventory from iHeartMedia, SiriusXM Media, and other streaming publishers. The service is available to healthcare advertisers in the United States.

Why: The launch addresses the growing importance of digital audio in media consumption, with U.S. consumers projected to spend 1 hour and 25 minutes daily with digital audio in 2025. Healthcare advertisers seek to reach patients and providers during high-attention moments in screen-free environments. The audio format offers uninterrupted exposure that builds contextual and emotional resonance, complementing other digital channels in omnichannel pharmaceutical marketing strategies.