Former Radio Hosts Top July’s Biggest Podcast Launches.

Three years after longtime “Mojo in the Morning” co-host Spike abruptly exited the syndicated morning show based at CHR “Channel 95. 5” WKQI Detroit, he has teamed up with former Detroit television newscaster Hank Winchester for a new podcast.

The “Spike & Hank” podcast launched last week as a show that features the men discussing Detroit, pop culture, trending topics and their own personal lives. Despite both men being off the air, they are demonstrating that local personalities continue to resonate with listeners.

The podcast analytics firm Podchaser reports “Spike and Hank” had the strongest debut of any new podcast launched in July. The report says the show had an estimated reach of nearly 980,000 listeners. That was more than double the reach of the second-largest newly-launched podcast.

"Detroit loves a comeback story, and I feel like this podcast is one more little comeback story for us,” Spike told the Detroit News. Spike says his non-compete with WKQI expired last month, allowing him to launch the podcast.

July’s second-biggest launch also has radio roots. The new “The Jon Justice Show” is helmed by veteran Minneapolis talk radio personality Jon Justice. He most recently hosted mornings on “Twin Cities NewsTalk 1130” KTLK. His new podcast had a reach of 472,000 in July according to Podchaser, putting it second on its ranking of July launches. Similar to his radio show, Justice — who is now aligned with the Minnesota think tank American Experiment — is posting three-hour episodes each weekday that cover the latest news and interviews.

Both of the podcast debuts come during a typically a quieter season for launches. According to new data from Podchaser, nearly 18,000 podcasts debuted during July, keeping the industry on pace to add roughly 15,000 to 20,000 new shows each month, or about 150,000 during the first half of the year.

Beyond “Spike and Hank” and “The Jon Justice Show,” the remainder of the top 10 included “Dan Taberski’s Manifesto” (261,000), “Waking Up With Ryan” (246,000), “You’re The Problem with Yamaneika” (189,000), “Podlandia: A-O Rewatch” featuring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein (181,000), “The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani” (126,000), “America First with Nicholas J. Fuentes” (118,000), “Foundling” (103,000) and “John Kiriakou’s Briefing Room” (103,000).

The monthly report also offers a clearer picture of what it now takes to stand out. Rather than unknown creators becoming overnight sensations, the biggest launches increasingly come from personalities who already have established audiences. July’s top-performing newcomers included programs from veteran network TV journalists Norah O’Donnell and Katty Kay, documentary producer Dan Taberski, comedians Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, and reality television personality Lala Kent.

High-production narrative storytelling also continues to resonate with listeners. Podchaser found that serialized investigative and true crime productions accounted for several of July’s strongest debuts, reinforcing that carefully produced limited-run series remain one of podcasting’s most reliable audience magnets.

The audience profile for July’s successful launches will likely be highly attractive to advertisers. Among shows that achieved measurable reach, the typical listener was about 34 years old, with audiences concentrated in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia. Several of the month’s largest launches also attracted overwhelmingly female audiences. “Several of 2026’s biggest new shows are women reaching women,” Podchaser says in the analysis.

At the same time, Podchaser’s latest monthly analysis underscores how competitive the market has become. Only about 13% of July’s new podcasts earned a Power Score — a 100-point metric designed to measure a podcast’s reach, engagement and influence. That means most podcasts are either inactive or have relatively little audience traction. Podchaser says fewer than 6% reached a measurable audience, less than 1% attracted roughly 10,000 listeners, and about 0.15% grew to a six-figure audience.