Media Monitors says NPR returned to its ranking of top publishers during the second quarter while iHeartRadio once again had the most shows in its list of the top 200 podcasts. The quarterly survey also continued to have a familiar face at the head of the pack as Spotify’s The Joe Rogan Experience was the podcast that was most listened to.
Media Monitors says Audiochuck’s Crime Junkie ranked second, followed by the New York Times-produced The Daily, Call Her Daddy, and This American Life.
Across the top 25, Media Monitors says a common theme emerges. Many of the hosts of the series are also influencers or have a pre-existing following on YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and even broadcast radio or other traditional media outlets. That includes shows like Impaulsive with Logan Paul which ranked No. 6 during the second quarter, in no small part to the fact that Paul has 23.5 million subscribers to his channel on YouTube and his podcast has nearly 4.1 million subscribers to its companion channel on the video platform.
Right behind Paul at No. 7 is the on-demand version of iHeart’s The Breakfast Club radio show. Not only does it have 5.15 million YouTube subscribers, but host Charlamagne Tha God has raised his profile in recent months due in part to his new television series on Comedy Central.
The top ten also included a new entrant at No. 8 with the debut of Wood Elf Media’s Distractible making its first appearance on the ranking. It is hosted by Mark Fischbach, whose Markiplier YouTube channel has 33.3 million subscribers. And at No. 11 the podcast Anything Goes is hosted by Emma Chamberlain, who has 11.7 million YouTube subscribers.
“Podcasts are a logical extension of these influencer’s core brands, and with their built-in audiences the podcasts are becoming a staple of the top 25,” said Media Monitors.
Beyond being an influencer, the second quarter data once again confirms producing a show in a handful of genres also improves the odds of finding a receptive audience. Media Monitors says 55 of the top 200 shows are in the Comedy category. That is an increase from 46 during the first quarter.
True Crime is once again the second-biggest genre, with 35 shows in the top 200. That is the same as during first quarter. News (28), Society & Culture (25) and Sports (12) round out the top five most popular genres during Q2. The top ten categories also saw the entry of Business podcasts while Religion & Spirituality moved off the list.
Media Monitors says the iHeartPodcast Network was once again the top-ranked publisher during the second quarter. It had 17 shows in the top 200. That included newly-launched podcasts including The Draymond Green Show (No. 76) co-produced by The Volume and Sinisterhood (No. 107) co-produced by Cloud10.
Spotify ranked second on the ranker with 12 shows in the top 200, with the top five rounded out by Audacy (10), SiriusXM/Stitcher/Earwolf (10), and Audioboom (8).
Media Monitors says NPR make a return to its top 10 publishers list at No. 6 after an unusual drop off during Q1. This quarter, seven of NPR’s podcasts make the top 200.
Overall, Media Monitors says independent podcasts using Patreon to distribute premium versions or to give listeners a way to support the show, tallied 16 shows in the second quarter’s top 200. That is up one from the previous quarter. It also says that indie shows with no mention of Patreon counted for another 29 of the top 200 – two more than in Q1.
The Media Monitors Podcast Listener survey was fielded June 17-30, 2022. Participants aged 18 and older were screened on whether they had listened to a podcast in the last seven days and then asked to list the podcast titles. Participants were encouraged to consult their podcast app of choice during the survey. These unassisted responses were then individually matched back to unique RSS feeds which were polled to collect information about genre and publisher.