Podtrac Says iHeart Maintains Lead As ‘The Daily’ Reclaims No. 1 Spot In May Rankings.

Podcast audiences continued to expand in May, with Podtrac reporting gains in reach across most major publishers even as download growth was concentrated among a smaller group of networks.

Podtrac says 16 of its ranked U.S. publishers and networks posted month-to-month increases in unique monthly audience during May, while three participants recorded gains in U.S. downloads and streams vs. April.

The iHeart Audience Network remained the largest podcast publisher measured by Podtrac, reaching 63.1 million U.S. monthly listeners and 300.7 million downloads and streams in May. iHeartPodcasts again ranked second with 33.8 million listeners and 164 million downloads and streams.

One of the biggest changes in the May rankings came just below the top two. The NPR Sales Network moved up to the No. 3 position with 19.7 million listeners and 100.7 million downloads and streams, while Libsyn ranked fourth with 14.9 million listeners and 51.3 million downloads and streams.

Several publishers posted notable audience gains. PodcastOne grew to 6.6 million monthly listeners, while Barstool Sports increased to 5.5 million listeners. Versant, the parent company of MSNBC and CNBC, continued its climb with 3.8 million listeners, and WNYC Studios topped 3 million monthly listeners.

Podtrac also retained The Volume in its rankings after the sports-focused network debuted in April. Founded by Colin Cowherd, the publisher ranked No. 17 with 1.7 million listeners and 6.3 million downloads and streams.

The May rankings suggest podcasting’s audience base continues to broaden even as listening volume remains concentrated among the industry’s largest publishers.

The battle for the top podcast spot also tightened in May.

After spending months behind NPR’s hourly news update, “The Daily” from The New York Times moved into the No. 1 position, climbing one spot to overtake “NPR News Now,” which slipped to second. “Up First from NPR” remained third, followed by “Dateline NBC” and “Fox News Hourly Update.”

The remainder of the top 10 was largely unchanged. “Pod Save America” held at No. 6, “The Ben Shapiro Show” stayed seventh, “Pardon My Take” remained eighth, and Paramount’s “48 Hours” held ninth. iHeartPodcasts’ “Stuff You Should Know” rounded out the top 10.

Several shows posted meaningful gains further down the chart. “Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!” delivered the biggest jump of the month, soaring 22 places to No. 18. “The Shawn Ryan Show” climbed four spots to No. 13, while “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” moved up two positions to No. 11.

Meanwhile, “The Dan Bongino Show” slipped two spots to No. 14, and Vox Media’s “Today, Explained” recorded the largest decline among ranked shows, falling six places to No. 20.

The rankings are based on Podtrac measurement data for U.S. unique monthly audience for any show that was measured for the entire month. The ranking only includes those shows that have opted in. It means that some of the biggest podcasts, like “The Joe Rogan Experience” and shows from companies like SiriusXM and Spotify are not included.

Podtrac’s global rankings also received a significant overhaul in May as the company expanded the report into its new Global Multi-Channel Publishers & Networks Ranking.

The revamped ranking reflects podcasting’s growing presence across audio, video and social platforms. In addition to downloads and views of full podcast episodes, Podtrac now reports contextual metrics for podcast-related video clips on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

Despite the methodology changes, the iHeart Audience Network remained the world’s largest podcast network measured by Podtrac with 551.5 million combined audio and video downloads, streams and views of full episodes. The company also generated massive engagement through short-form content, including 593.4 million Instagram views, 616.1 million TikTok views and 57.4 million YouTube clip views.

The newly expanded rankings show how podcast publishers are increasingly reaching audiences far beyond traditional listening apps. The Meidas Media Network debuted at No. 2 globally, while NPR Sales Network, Libsyn, Sonoro Global Media, Paramount, and DailyWire+ all ranked among the top global publishers.

The addition of social video metrics underscores how podcasting is increasingly becoming a multiplatform business, with audience engagement occurring not only through downloads and streams, but also through clips viewed across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. 

See the full global ranking HERE.