Podcast Downloads Bounce Back After Memorial Day Holiday Week.

Podcast listening bounced back last week after a traditional dip during the Memorial Day holiday. Podtrac says downloads grew four percent week-to-week for June 6-12 among the publishers it monitors. They were also up 60% from the corresponding period a year ago.

True Crime had the strongest comeback. Podtrac says its downloads jumped 21% from a week earlier. And among the universe of shows Podtrac measures, gains were also reported for other genres including Comedy (+8%), Health & Fitness (+7%), Science (+5%), Society & Culture (+3%), Business (+3%), and News (+2%). Two categories had dips – Arts (-7%) and History (-3%) – while downloads to Sports podcasts were flat week-to-week.

Podtrac reported earlier that global downloads for the top 20 publishers overall increased one percent month-over-month during May. And they grew 32% compared to the download numbers from a year earlier.

Five of the top 20 publishers posted an increase in their unique monthly U.S. audience in May compared to April – the rest were either down or flat. The average publisher had a four percent month-over-month decrease in their U.S. unique monthly audience during May. But compared to a year earlier, May 2022’s unique reach for the top 20 publishers was up 11% versus May 2021.

Podtrac said iHeartRadio was the biggest publisher in May among those its measures, followed by NPR, Wondery, the New York Times, and NBC News.