Podtrac publishes its Top Podcasts ranker for May 2026 based on U.S. unique monthly audience and The New 
York Times’ “The Daily” leaps NPR’s “NPR News Now” to claim the #1 spot. Other podcasts of note include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “Shawn Ryan Show” rises four places to #13, and Silverloch’s “The Dan Bongino Show” dips two places to #14. See the complete ranker here.
Earlier this year, Podtrac announced its new multi-channel podcast ranker that takes into account audio, video and video clips. Today, the company releases its first multi-channel ranker for January 2026 and Meidas Touch Network’s “The Meidas Touch Podcast” is #1 on the
strength of the video podcast and podcast clips, while “The Joe Rogan Experience” is #2 with consumption split almost evenly between audio and a combination of video podcast and podcast clips. Perhaps not surprisingly, NPR’s “NPR News Now” (#4) consumption came primarily from audio with about 20% coming from podcast clips. Candace Owens’ “Candace” leapt 71 places to finish the January period at #10. Her program’s consumption was primarily a split between video podcast and podcast clips. See the chart here.
Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts chart based on U.S. unique monthly audience for January 2026 and The Daily Wire’s “Ben Shapiro Show”
rises five places to #7. The top of the chart remains the same “NPR News Now” at #1, The New York Times’ “The Daily” at #2 and “Up First from NPR” at #3. Other noteworthy moves include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” rising two places to #13 and The New York Times’ “Ezra Klein Show” debuting at #14. See the complete ranker here.
Triton Digital releases its U.S. Podcast Ranker for November 2025 for participating networks (based on weekly average downloads) and there are new podcasts in the top positions. For reasons unexplained, NPR’s shows “NPR News Now” and “Up First from NPR” – ranked #1
and #2 in most past surveys – are gone from the ranker entirely. With that change, iHeartRadio’s “Stuff You Should Know” is the new #1, with Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” at #2. Other changes for talk radio-related podcasts include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” rising five places to #4, Cumulus Podcast Network’s “VINCE” climbing two places to #10, and iHeartRadio’s “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” moving up seven places to #11. See the complete ranker here.
Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts ranker for November based on U.S. unique monthly audience and while
the top three remain unchanged – #1 “NPR News Now,” #2 “The Daily,” and #3 “Up First from NPR” – Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” climbs two places to #4. Other news/talk media-related podcasts of note include the “FOX News Hourly Update” falling two places to #6, “The Tucker Carlson Show” rising two places to #17, and Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” regressing eight places to #19. See the complete ranker here.
NPR’s “NPR News Now” keeps its place at the top of Podtrac’s Top Podcasts chart based on
U.S. unique monthly audience for October 2025. The New York Times’ “The Daily” is #2, NPR’s “Up First” is #3, followed by the “FOX News Hourly Update” at #4 and “Dateline NBC” at #5. DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” rises two places to #8, while Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” falls five places to #11. See the complete chart here.
Triton Digital releases its U.S. Podcast Ranker for September (Sept. 1-28) based on weekly average downloads for participating networks and Salem Media Group’s “The Charlie Kirk
Show” rose three places to the #3 spot, behind NPR’s “NPR News Now” (#1) and “Up First” (#2). Kirk was slain in September 10 and new episodes of the program continue to be produced. Other talk radio related shows of note include: Cumulus Podcast Network’s “VINCE” drops two places to #13; iHeartRadio’s “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” drops two places to #16; and iHeartRadio’s “The Jesse Kelly Show” climbs three places to #49. See the complete ranker here.
The Top Podcasts ranker from Podtrac based on U.S. unique monthly audience for the month of September saw Salem Podcast Network’s “Charlie Kirk Show” rise 28 places to #6 in the
aftermath of his slaying in Utah on September 10. The top three podcasts remain in order from the August ranker with NPR’s “NPR News Now” at #1, followed by The New York Times’ “The Daily” at #2 and NPR’s “Up First” at #3. Other talk radio related shows include FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” rising one place to #4 and DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” falling four places to #12. See the complete ranker here.
Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts chart based on U.S. unique monthly audience for the month of July and the only move among the top five is FOX Audio Network’s FOX News Hourly Update rises one spot to #4,
leap-frogging Dateline NBC (#5). Otherwise, the top three remain (in order): “NPR News Now,” “The Daily” (New York Times), and “Up First from NPR.” “The Tucker Carlson Show” jumps six places to finish the month at #18. See the complete ranker here.
Triton Digital releases its U.S. Podcast Ranker for June (June 2 – 29) based on weekly average downloads
and NPR’s most popular podcasts – “NPR News Now” and “Up First” – maintain their first and second-place finishes, respectively. Changes of note from May to June include Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” rising three places to #5, Cumulus Podcast Network’s “VINCE” rising one spot to #10, and iHeartRadio’s “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton” falling two places to #16. See the complete ranker here.
Podtrac releases its March Top Podcasts ranker for the U.S. based on unique monthly audience and
NPR’s “NPR News Now” jumps The New York Times’ “The Daily” for the #1 spot. Other moves of note include FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” rising two places to #5 and Silverloch’s “VINCE” (Vince Coglianese) debuting at #7. See the complete chart here.
This is the third annual U.S. Podcast Report from Triton Digital and according to the report, the number of monthly podcast listeners continues to rise with 23% growth over the past three years and almost 10% over the past year. In 2024, 44% of the U.S. population reported listening to a podcast within the past month. Triton says these listeners were found to be younger, more educated, more affluent, and more diverse. Other key findings include: 1) YouTube continues to be the preferred platform with 33% of listeners in 2024, up
from 27% in 2021; 2) the top podcast genres of 2024 were News (25% of downloads), True Crime (19%), and Comedy (13%). Of True Crime podcast listeners, 67% were female, of Comedy podcast listeners, 61% were male, and of News podcast listeners, 56% were male; 3) NPR News Now (NPR) remained the top podcast in 2024; and 4) “Bongino Report Early Edition with Evita” had the #1 debut in 2024. Triton SVP measurement products & strategy Daryl Battaglia says, “2024 marked another year of remarkable growth for the podcast industry, with listenership broadening across demographics and becoming more mainstream than ever. As new audiences dive into podcasts and spend more time listening, fueling deeper engagement, genres like True Crime, Kids & Family, and History drive the highest back catalog consumption, creating untapped opportunities for programmatic advertising. At Triton Digital, we remain dedicated to providing deep insights into listener behavior and platform preferences as this dynamic medium continues to evolve.” You can download the report here.
According to data from Podtrac’s ranking of the top U.S. podcasts for September 2024 based on U.S. unique monthly audience, the top three shows remain unchanged from the August ranker: #1 is The New York
Times’ “The Daily,” followed by NPR’s “NPR News Now” at #2 and NPR’s “Up First” at #3. Some moves of note include Dan Bongino’s “The Dan Bongino Show” sliding from #4 to #5, The DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” dipping two spots to #11, and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” rising to one spot to #12. See the complete ranker here.
There’s no movement among the top four podcasts in Triton Digital’s July 2024 U.S. Podcast Ranker (based on weekly average downloads for participating shows). They are: 1) NPR’s “NPR News Now”; 2) NPR’s “Up
First”; 3) NBCUniversal News Group’s “Dateline NBC”; and 4) audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie.” Moving up to the #5 rank in July was Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show.” Other moves of note include SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” rising three places to the #10 rank; Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” up four spots to #14; and iHeartAudience Network’s “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” also up four places to the #19 rank. See the full ranker here.
There’s no movement among the top five podcasts from June to July on Podtrac’s Top U.S. Podcasts ranker.
The New York Times’ “The Daily” remains #1, followed by NPR’s “NPR News Now” at #2 and “Up First” at #3, with NBC News’ “Dateline NBC” at #4. Dan Bongino’s “The Dan Bongino Show” leaps four spots to the #5 rank and the DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” jumps two spots to the #6 rank, while FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” falls two places to #8. See the full ranker here.
Triton Digital publishes its U.S. Podcast Ranker for June 2024 (June 3-30) based on weekly average downloads for participating networks. There was not much movement in the top 10, with NPR’s NPR News
Now and Up First in the #1 and #2 spots, respectively, and NBCUniversal News Group’s Dateline NBC at #3. Movement of note for news/talk radio-related podcasts includes Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” rising one place to #6; iHeart Audience Network’s “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton” show moves three spots to #23; and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” advances 13 places to the #26 rank. See the complete ranker here.
The latest U.S. podcast ranker from Podtrac (based on unique U.S. monthly audience for participating shows) is released for the month of June and the top five shows remain in the spots they occupied in May –
The New York Times’ “The Daily” at #1, NPR’s “NPR News Now” and “First Up” at #2 and #3, respectively, NBC News’ “Dateline NBC” at #4 and Wondery’s “Morbid” at #5. FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” rose one spot to the #6 rank, and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “Shawn Ryan Show” moved up seven places to finish at the #13 spot. See the complete ranker here.
NPR’s “NPR News Now” and “Up First” kept their #1 and #2 places (respectively) on Triton Digital’s U.S. Podcast Ranker for May (April 29 – June 2). The ranker presents the top U.S. podcasts based on weekly
average downloads for shows that opt in. This month sees the inclusion of iHeart Audience Network podcasts and a lot of shows debuting on the chart for the first time. Some of those include “Stuff You Should Know” at #6, “The Breakfast Club” at #16, “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” at #26, “The Sean Hannity Show” at #63, and “The Jesse Kelly Show” at #84. See the complete ranker here.
Triton Digital releases its U.S. Podcast Ranker (based on weekly average downloads for participating
podcasts) for April 2024 and NPR’s “NPR News Now” retains its #1 rank, followed by sister program “Up First” at #2 and audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie” at #3. Other radio related podcasts of note include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” rising one place to #6, Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” sliding back one place to #17, and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Mark Levin Show” also moving back one spot to #28. See the complete ranker here.
There was a change at the #1 spot on Podtrac’s podcast ranker for April 2024 as The New York Times’ “The Daily” unseats NPR’s “NPR News Now” and the two shows are #1 and #2, respectively. Other
moves of note for radio-related shows include FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” rising four places to the #8 rank; The Daily Wire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” falls two places to the #9 rank, and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” steady at #10. See Podtrac’s complete rankers here.
Triton Digital releases its Top U.S. Podcasts ranker for February (Jan. 29 – Feb. 25) based on weekly average downloads for shows that opt in. NPR’s “NPR News Now” retains its #1 position, while
NBCUniversal News Group’s “Dateline NBC” jumps two spots to #2, bumping audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie” to #4. NPR’s “Up First” remains in the #3 position. Other radio-related podcasts of note include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” rising one spot to #6, Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” slipping two places to #17, and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Mark Levin Show” falling three spots to #27. See the complete ranker here.
Triton Digital released its second annual U.S. Podcast Report that “provides insights into the evolving U.S. podcast landscape over the course of 2023, including listening habits, audience demographic data, and insights into the top podcasts, networks, and debuts from the Triton U.S. Podcast Ranker.” The report indicates the number of monthly podcast listeners continues to rise with 12% growth over the past two years. In 2023, 40% of the U.S. population reported listening to a podcast within the past month.
Other notable findings: 1) Older Americans and women are listening to podcasts at a faster rate, with a 22% increase in listeners over the age of 55 and a 19% increase in female listeners 18+ over the past two years; 2) Top podcast genres of 2023 were News (22% of downloads), True Crime (18%), and Comedy (15%). Of True Crime podcast listeners, 67% were female, of Comedy podcast listeners 62% were male, and of News podcast listeners 58% were male; 3) The top sales networks of 2023 in the Triton U.S. Podcast Ranker were SiriusXM Podcast Network at #1, NPR at #2, and Wondery at #3. The top podcast of the year was “NPR News Now.” Triton Digital SVP measurement products & strategy Daryl Battaglia says, “2023 was another year of significant growth for the podcast industry, and with increasing female and over 55+ audiences, we can expect more content production to serve those groups in the coming year. As podcast listenership continues to rise and reach new audiences, we’ll continue to provide our customers with in-depth insights around podcast consumption and listener habits in the coming year.” Get the full report here.
Podtrac releases its latest Top 20 charts for podcast publishers, sales networks, and podcasts for the period of July 2023. News podcasts remain popular in the U.S. as this month’s chart confirms with The New York Times’
“The Daily” ranked #1 (based on unique U.S. monthly audience). NBC News’ “Dateline NBC” came in #3 and NPR’s “NPR News Now” was #4. The lone talk radio personality whose podcast landed in Podtrac’s Top 20 was Dan Bongino. His Cumulus Podcast Network show ranked #11.
Triton Digital reveals the results of its June 2023 U.S. Podcast Report that ranks the top podcasts from participating networks in the U.S. based on weekly average downloads. NPR’s “NPR News Now” remains locked
in the #1 position while NBCUniversal News Group’s “Dateline NBC” rises to the #2 rank. Rounding out the top five is audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie” at #3, Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” at #4, and NPR’s “Up First” at #5. Also in the top 10 for June was Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” at #7. See the complete ranker here.
Triton Digital releases its May 2023 U.S. Podcast Report that ranks podcasts listened to in America based on weekly average downloads and NPR’s “NPR News Now” is again the #1 podcast on the ranker. At #2 is
audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie,” followed by Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Ben Shapiro Show,” which rises from #4 to #3. Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” was steady at #7, while the company’s “The Matt Walsh Show” climbed two spots to #19. The Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” fell two spots to #21. See the complete ranker here.