New Political Podcasts Surge Past Veterans In Subscriber Race, Says TheRighting.

The podcast feed has become the town square of political discussions, with a flurry of new shows launching in the past year, leapfrogging more established shows. A new analysis by TheRighting finds that subscriber numbers are climbing across the board, but several newer podcasts have been especially popular. It reports five shows that launched within the past 14 months are now among the top 50 podcasts by subscribers.

While the data only represents subscribers to a single app, TheRighting says it offers insights into what is happening in the broader podcast marketplace. The biggest success has been found by The Tucker Carlson Show, which debuted in May 2024 and now sits at No. 13 on TheRighting’s ranker of shows with the most subscribers. Carlson’s show has 137,745 on Castbox. Fellow conservative Owens has also seen a strong debut, rising to No. 22 on the ranker with 47,322 subscribers to her Candace podcast on Castbox.

But it is not all right-of-center shows that are catching on. TheRighting says The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart sits at No. 15 with 128,040 subscribers on Castbox since its June 2024 debut. And IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson has risen to 22nd place, with 82,551 subscribers added since it launched in March. It means the former First Lady and her brother now rank higher than stalwarts like The Matt Walsh Show and Real Time with Bill Maher.

“IMO program appears to have significant traction with consumers and it’s not unrealistic to assume that Michelle Obama could become a real power in this space,” said Howard Polskin, President of TheRighting.

Politico’s The Conversation with Dasha Burns — the podcast answer to the Sunday TV chat shows — has also had a strong debut since launching last month. It already has 28,291 subscribers on Castbox, putting it at No. 48 on TheRighting’s ranker.

While the data only represents subscribers to a single app, TheRighting says it offers insights into what is happening in the broader podcast marketplace.

“Ten percent of the new podcasts in TheRighting’s top 50 politics/news chart were launched within the last 14 months,” Polskin said. “This reflects a meaningful influx of podcasting talent as well as a growing consumer appetite for new programs.”TheRighting’s analysis revealed that 29 of the political/news podcasts in TheRighting’s top 50 chart were mainstream, progressive or tilted left, while 21 of the podcasts were right-wing, conservative or leaned right. It says the leading podcast publisher was The Daily Wire, which landed five programs in the top 50, while NPR and Crooked Media each had four shows.

TheRighting’s report is based on data that is updated daily from the podcast app Castbox, which according to the podcast-hosting platform Buzzsprout represents less than 2% of all podcasts that Buzzsprout serves. While it only offers a small slice of the podcast market overall, TheRighting says it provides a snapshot of the market for conservative podcast voices. It also points out that no other leading podcast app besides Castbox makes its data publicly available.