After so-so growth in May, Podtrac reports the publishers it measured had a strong June with gains in both downloads and audience reach. As has been the case for more than a year, iHeartRadio remains the top-ranked publisher. Podtrac says iHeart’s unique monthly audience in the U.S. increased three percent month-to-month to 30 million, with more than 431 million downloads and streams last month.
Overall, Podtrac says the average U.S. unique monthly audience for the top 20 publishers was up five percent in June compared to May. And it jumped 11% from one year earlier.
Wondery was powered by its Amazon alliance and new show additions such as Morbid: A True Crime Podcast – which debuted on the Podtrac ranker of most listened-to shows at No. 2 in June – and jumped ahead of NPR. Podtrac says Wondery had a unique U.S. reach of 23.8 million, which was a 59% increase from the 15 million it had in May. And Wondery’s downloads and streams jumped 68% month-to-month to 185 million.
NPR slid back to third place in June with a unique reach of 18 million in the U.S., on par with its May numbers, and downloads that topped 160 million – a four percent dip from the prior month.
The New York Times remained in fourth place last month with 11 million listeners – a five percent bump – and nearly 140 million downloads – a four percent increase compared to May.
NBC News was again in fifth place according to Podtrac. It says NBC had nine million unique U.S. listeners, the same as in May, and 61 million downloads, a slight decrease month-to-month.
The Daily Wire was another winner in June as the publisher of conservative podcasts advanced one position for a second consecutive month and moved up to No. 6 in the Podtrac ranker. Daily Wire had a 10% jump in its unique U.S. reach, which hit 8.2 million, and its total downloads rose seven percent month-to-month to 78 million.
That pushed The Walt Disney Company – whose podcasts include shows published by ABC News and ESPN – back to No. 7 as it had a dip in both its total reach and download numbers in June versus May.
PodcastOne held steady in eighth place in June, despite an 11% drop in reach from May, and a 12% decline in total downloads. PRX held onto to tenth place with smaller month-to-month erosion. Its U.S. reach total dipped two percent while its download tally dropped five percent.
Beyond the top ten, the Cumulus Podcast Network advanced two positions to No. 14 in June as its unique U.S. reach rose five percent and total downloads increased eight percent.
The one-show This American Life was the month’s biggest loser according to Podtrac, falling from No. 14 in May to No. 18 in June due to an 11% drop in U.S. reach and a 14% decrease in downloads last month.
Overall, Podtrac reports the average top 20 publisher had a five percent month-over-month increase in their U.S. unique monthly audience last month. And compared to a year earlier, June 2022’s unique reach for the top 20 publishers was up 11% versus June 2021.
Podtrac also reports six of the top 20 publishers posted an increase in their unique monthly U.S. audience in June compared to May – the rest were either down or flat.
In terms of downloads, Podtrac says global downloads for the top 20 publishers overall increased three percent month-over-month during June. They grew an even more substantial 51% compared to the download numbers from a year earlier.