Triton Links Podcast Genres To Shopping Behavior Ahead Of Black Friday.

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, Triton Digital’s just-released quarterly U.S. Podcast Ranker is revealing the connection that shoppers have with podcasting. The revamped report is now allowing advertisers to identify variations within genres to better reach their target audiences exactly where they are.

Triton’s Q3 data reveals clear links between what consumers buy and the podcasts they choose, with percentage strengths making the correlations even sharper. Big-box retailers showed the strongest overlap, attracting fans of true crime (87.6%), comedy (86.6%), sports (86.3%), history (85.3%) and news (84.1%) — genres with broad, mainstream reach. The numbers are based on U.S. survey responses by category, which Triton says reflects the percentage of a genre’s listenership correlated to the retailer type where they shop most.

Department stores drew their highest affinities from listeners of technology (51%), kids & family (50.7%), education (49.8%), music (49.6%), and business (49.0%) podcasts. Fast-fashion shoppers leaned toward kids & family (41.9%), music (36.6%), education (36.4%), technology (36.2%), and business (35.5%) content. Luxury boutiques saw their strongest overlap among consumers of technology (25.2%), kids & family (19.1%), business (17.7%), music (17.3%), and education (17%) shows — suggesting higher-end buyers skew toward more informational and lifestyle genres.

Triton also identified meaningful differences between online and in-person shopping groups. Online shoppers were the biggest consumers of technology (54%), kids & family (51.5%), health & fitness (49.4%), business (49.2%), and music (49.0%) podcasts. 

In-person shoppers instead gravitated toward news (34.7%), science (34.6%), sports (33.2%), fiction (32.4%), and comedy (32.1%) programming.

For advertisers, Triton’s takeaway is that podcast genres map closely to retail behavior. These correlations offer not just cultural insight but a strong signal of purchase intent — showing brands exactly where and how different consumer segments spend.

“Podcasts reflect consumers’ broader lifestyles and interests, making them one of the most powerful drivers of both discovery and decision-making for brands,” Triton Senior VP Daryl Battaglia said. “As brands ramp up campaigns for the holiday shopping frenzy, our data continues to help them better understand their audiences and align content with intent in a meaningful way.”

Triton revamped how it reports podcast listening in August, when it began teaming up with Signal Hill Insights to produce quarterly updates sourced from the Demos+ survey and audience profiles collected and assembled by Triton in collaboration with Signal Hill Insights. With survey data collected throughout each quarter, the companies say they create a consistent snapshot of recent listening behavior by combining the opt-in, download-based ranker, which reflects listening frequency, and survey-based measurement, which captures reach across the entire industry.

For advertisers and agencies, the new quarterly audience-based insights offer what Triton says is a smarter, more strategic approach to media planning. With show-level insights on listener demographics, interests, and purchase intent, it says marketers can easily identify podcasts that align with their target audiences. The list of 44 characteristics also allows planners to understand audience composition at the genre level, adding another layer of insight to reach-focused campaign targeting. It is also useful for publishers and creators looking to pitch their show to buyers.

Read Triton Digital’s full Q3 2025 U.S. Podcast Ranker HERE.