Podtrac

Nothing succeeds like success, the saying goes, and podcasting is illustrating that maxim as much as any media category. Podtrac released its monthly Top Podcasts ranker (U.S. listening) for September. As with other recurring podcast rankers, this update shows stability in the 20-show cohort. Two shows which weren’t present in the previous month crept into the September list: How I Built This (#19) and TED Radio Hour (#20). In the top ten, only three shows shifted position, each by just one spot up or down. Click through for the whole list. Continue Reading →

Podtrac released a Weekly Podcast Data report, showing year-over-year and week-over-week charts of weekly download data. The reporting period is August 31 to September 6. The week-over-week download report for all podcast categories is minus 4%. But looking at a year-over-year view, from 9/2/2019 to 9/6/2020, shows a 52% rise in downloads. Click through for charts and more details. Continue Reading →

Podtrac has released the June edition of the measurement company’s Top Podcast Publishers ranker. Many publications make noise about NPR reclaiming the #1 spot from iHeartRadio (and we hereby note it dutifully), but these two podcast powerhouses are separated by a small fraction of the key metric, US Unique Monthly Audience, and they flip back and forth. Click through for the chart, and RAIN’s remix based on per-show averages. Continue Reading →

Podtrac’s “Podcast Audience Category Ranking” report for May is finalized for subscribers, and the company offers a public peak. This month it is the News category which is spotlighted: The fragmented release (five out of 30 shows in a single… Continue Reading →

Podtrac sent us the latest weekly update of U.S. podcast listening, both in downloads and audience, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (You can see everything HERE.) Podtrac also informed us that this is the last installment of its weekly COVID-19 tracking. “Things are getting back to normal on a weekly basis,” CEO Mark McCrery told RAIN. Continue Reading →

In this installment of Podtrac’s series, the data show a +5% gain for downloads and +4% gain for audience. One interesting thing this week: Comedy spiked upward, to nearly match the News category in downloads. Is it a Joe Rogan effect? Continue Reading →

Podtrac sent us the latest weekly update of U.S. podcast listening, both in downloads and audience, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (You can see everything HERE.) Its latest data is for the week of May 11 – May 17. The happy news for the podcast industry is that with this week’s metrics, Podtrac’s view of the industry shows steady recovery from a Covid-19 low point in the week ending April 13. Continue Reading →