Hit Religious Series ‘The Bible In A Year’ Nears Billion Downloads At Five-Year Mark.

There is a large audience for Christian content as Ascension Catholic Media’s “The Bible In a Year” podcast continues to demonstrate. It is “just shy” the one billion download mark, according to Father Mike Schmitz, who has hosted the podcast since it debuted five years ago. The series has remained the No. 1 religious podcast with listeners in 150 countries — including some where it is illegal to openly practice Catholicism.

“Back in 2021 none of us had any idea what God was going to do with it,” Schmitz says. “We never anticipated the reach, the impact, or even just the sheer number of people who would say yes to reading scripture every day.”

During each episode of the Bible in a year podcast, Schmitz reads two to three scriptures. Each episode lasts about 20 minutes. Shortly after its January 2021 debut, “Bible In a Year” quickly soared to No. 1 among all podcasts in the U.S., not just religious podcasts. It currently ranks No. 5 on Apple Podcasts, riding what has become its typical biggest weeks at the start of each year — even hitting No. 1 a couple times, usually at the beginning of every year.

“I always like when people start listening to the Bible the beginning of the year,” Schmitz says. “The fifth anniversary just means God continues to work. Because the reality is that this could be year one for you.” His plan for the new year is a fresh cover-to-cover reading. “It is one of those things where God’s word is inexhaustible. There’s always more,” Schmitz says in a special episode.

To mark the five-year milestone, Ascension is releasing new bonus commentary from Schmitz for the first five days of this year’s series, which will be exclusively available on the Ascension app. It will also release exclusive video conversations about scripture and faith on the Ascension YouTube channel.

“There’s some things in the readings I didn’t share the first time, as well as some questions that pop up from listeners every time, every year. So we’re excited to share some of those insights,” Schmitz says. Looking ahead, he says they are also working to translate the podcast into other languages.

Since 2024, EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network has aired the “Bible In a Year” podcast on its radio network. It is paired up with sister podcast “Catechism in a Year” for a daily one-hour show. The show has also expanded to YouTube.