Samba: 13% Of Households Watch Podcasts On Netflix, Led By ‘The Breakfast Club.’

Television data and analytics company Samba TV says Netflix’s early push into podcasting is already producing a distinct set of winners — and the results suggest that what works on the television screen may look very different from what succeeds in audio downloads or even on YouTube.

In a first-quarter analysis of what it calls the inaugural Netflix Podcast Ranker, Samba estimates that 13% of U.S. Netflix-viewing households watched at least one Netflix podcast during the first three months of 2026.

“We are still very much in the early days of podcasting’s living room era,” says Alyson Sprague, Samba’s VP of Measurement Science. “The data we see today aren’t benchmarks or trends, they’re early signals of a formerly mobile-first medium in evolution. And those signals are genuinely encouraging.”

Netflix had about 46 podcast titles available during the first quarter, roughly 39 licensed from outside publishers. Samba says iHeartMedia ranked No. 1 by both total views and total minutes consumed. It outperformed even Netflix’s own original podcasts, which totaled about seven shows. But by ranking second, Samba says they are outperforming on a per-title basis. The company says Netflix Originals “punch above their weight,” with that small slice of the catalog generating enough per-title views to place second overall. Spotify/The Ringer ranked third.

On the title level, iHeart’s “The Breakfast Club” ranked No. 1 by total views, followed by “Bridgerton,” a Netflix Original, and Oh No Media’s “Murder with My Husband.”

Early data suggests that certain genres may remain better suited to on-the-go listening, while video may favor personality-driven shows that offer viewers a stronger visual connection to hosts and guests.

No title illustrates that better than iHeart’s syndicated radio show-turned-hit podcast “The Breakfast Club.” Samba says the show alone accounted for more than 40% of all Netflix podcast views during the first quarter.

Samba says its audience on Netflix is “highly engaged, culturally specific, and clearly arriving with intent.” According to the report, Black audiences also over-index by more than two times relative both to the general population and to the broader Netflix viewing base. Just as importantly, Sprague says these viewers are watching deeply rather than simply sampling episodes.

“For anyone wondering why Netflix is licensing up to 80% of its podcast content from established creators rather than building from scratch, ‘The Breakfast Club’ goes a long way toward answering that question,” Sprague writes. “‘The Breakfast Club’ has spent more than a decade building trust and credibility with their audience. That’s not something you can manufacture overnight.”

The report also suggests that Netflix may be changing not only where podcasts are consumed, but when. Despite “The Breakfast Club” originating as a morning program, only 10% of its Netflix viewing happens in the early morning. Instead, nearly half — 44% — occurs during daytime or primetime hours.

“It’s an early indicator that Netflix may be reshaping not just where people watch podcasts, but when,” Sprague says.

The report underscores how new podcasting still is on Netflix, but it also offers one of the clearest looks yet at how podcasting may change as it shifts from earbuds to television screens. The more significant takeaway from the report may be that Netflix is not merely replicating the existing podcast hierarchy on another screen. Instead, Samba says the earliest data point to a new set of viewing habits, new audience behavior, and perhaps a new standard for what makes a podcast successful in a television environment.

To test that idea, Samba partnered with Podscribe to compare how titles rank on Netflix vs. in the broader podcast ecosystem, where Podscribe tracks shows based on audio downloads and YouTube views. The result, according to Sprague, is that “there’s little to no correlation between the two.” That means a show’s success in traditional podcasting does not appear to predict how it will perform on Netflix.

Some titles that barely register in Podscribe’s rankings are emerging as significant performers on Netflix. Samba points to shows like “Joe and Jada,” ranked No. 4,995 by Podscribe, and “The BobbyCast,” ranked No. 2,546, both of which still land in Netflix’s top 20. Sprague says those shows attract devoted genre fans and revolve around celebrity personalities whose on-screen presence may matter as much as the conversation itself.

“Watching Bobby Bones break down a Luke Combs album sitting across from Luke Combs may carry a visual intimacy that these genre superfans prefer over audio,” Sprague writes in a blog post.

The inverse also appears true. A number of shows with significant visibility in the audio world are not translating as effectively to the Netflix environment. Samba says “Behind the Bastards,” ranked No. 34 by Podscribe, “Spittin Chiclets,” ranked No. 443, and “The Ringer NBA Show,” ranked No. 454, all fall outside the top half of Netflix’s podcast rankings.

For now, Samba avoids overstating the findings. But even at this early point, Sprague says enough patterns are emerging to suggest something meaningful is happening.

“An audience exists, and it’s engaged,” she says.