Industry News

Top Podcasts Steady on Podtrac’s Latest Ranker

There was no movement in the top five on Podtrac’s February 2026 Top U.S. Podcasts ranker based on unique U.S. monthly downloads forimg participating networks. In order from #1 to #5 are NPR’s “NPR News Now,” The New York Times’ “The Daily,” “Up First from NPR,” NBC Universal’s “Dateline NBC,” and FOX Audio Networks’ “FOX News Hourly Update.” Other talk radio-related shows of note include DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” at #7 and Silverloch’s “The Dan Bongino Show” at #9.  See the complete chart here.

Industry News

iHeartMedia Reports 2025 Q4 Revenue Up 0.8%

Releasing its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2025 and for the full year of 2025, iHeartMedia reports consolidated revenue of $1.12, billion, an increase of 0.8% over Q4 of 2024. For the full year of 2025, consolidated revenue was $3.86 billion, an increase of 0.3% over the full year of 2024. For the fourth quarter of 2025, the company says Audioimg revenue increased $47.7 million, or 14.1%, driven primarily by continuing increases in demand for digital and podcast advertising, as well as increased non-cash trade revenue resulting from strategic marketing initiatives. Multiplatform Group revenue decreased $19.2 million, or 2.8%, primarily resulting from lower political revenues, as 2024 was a presidential election year, as well as a decrease in broadcast advertising in connection with continued uncertain market conditions.

Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman says, “We’re pleased with our fourth quarter results, generating Adjusted EBITDA of $220 million, at the midpoint of our previously provided guidance range, and our consolidated revenue was $1.1 billion, up 0.8% compared to prior year and above our guidance; excluding the impact of political, our consolidated revenue was up 7.7%. Our podcast momentum continues, growing 24.5% compared to prior year, above our guidance of ‘up in the mid-teens,’ and we have the number one audience in podcasting as measured by both Podtrac and Triton. In 2026 a major goal of ours is to return the Multiplatform Group to segment Adjusted EBITDA growth and we continue to invest in our broadcast programmatic efforts and working with partners like Amazon DSP, Yahoo! DSP and other to include our broadcast radio inventory on their programmatic platforms. We also see some of our recent announcements as validation of the power of broadcast radio, with companies like Netflix and TikTok coming to partner with us and our broadcast radio assets.”

Industry News

Podtrac Releases Multi-Channel Podcast Ranker for January

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 theimg 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.

Industry News

Ben Shapiro Show Rises in Podtrac’s January Ranker

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts chart based on U.S. unique monthly audience for January 2026 and The Daily Wire’s “Ben Shapiro Show”img 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.

Industry News

Podtrac Unveils New Multi-Channel Podcast Ranking

Podtrac releases the first edition of its Multi-Channel Podcast Ranking that now includes the following when constructing its rankings: audio episode downloaded on Apple, Spotify, and other podcast apps; Videoimg episodes viewed and streamed on YouTube and Spotify; and Podcast video clips played on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Under this new format, Podtrac’s Multi-Channel Podcast Ranking for December 2025 ranks “The Meidas Touch Podcast” #1, followed by “The Joe Rogan Experience” at #2, and “The Rest is History” at #3. Other news/talk media related shows of note include: “The Tucker Carlson Show” at #12, and “The Ben Shapiro Show” at #17. See more about this ranker here.

Industry News

Little Change at Top of Podtrac’s December Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts ranker for December based on U.S. unique monthly audience for participating networks and the top threeimg places remain unchanged 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. Changes among news/talk shows include The Daily Wire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show’ up two places to #12, the Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” falls 11 spots to #15, and “The Tucker Carlson Show” dips two spots to #19. See the full ranker here. 

Industry News

Shawn Ryan Inches into Top 5 on Podtrac Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts ranker for November based on U.S. unique monthly audience and whileimg 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.

Industry News

Top Five Unchanged on Podtrac’s October Top Podcasts Chart

NPR’s “NPR News Now” keeps its place at the top of Podtrac’s Top Podcasts chart based onimg 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.

Industry News

Charlie Kirk Show Soars in Podtrac’s September Ranker

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 theimg 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.

Industry News

Ben Shapiro Show Jumps in August Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts ranker for August based on unique monthly audience for participatingimg publishers and the top three shows remain, in order, “NPR News Now” at #1, The New York Times’ “The Daily” at #2 and “Up First from NPR” at #3. The big mover during August was The DailyWire’s “The Ben Shaprio Show,” which leaped five places to land at the #8 spot. See the complete ranker here.

Industry News

FOX News and Tucker Carlson Rise in July Podtrac Ranker

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,img 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.

Industry News

Little Change at the Top of Podtrac’s June Podcast Ranker

NPR’s “NPR News Now” stays at #1 on Podtrac’s June 2025 Top Podcasts chart based on U.S. uniqueimg monthly audience. In fact, the top eight spots are the same as the May ranker, including FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” holding on to the #5 spot. One move of note is Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” jumping 12 places to the #19 rank. See Podtrac’s rank of the top 20 U.S. podcasts here.

Industry News

NPR Stays Atop Podtrac Podcasts Chart for May

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts chart for May based on U.S. unique monthly audience and NPR’s “NPR News Now” remains ranked #1, followed by The New York Times’ “The Daily” at #2 and NPR’s “Up First” atimg #3. Radio-related podcasts of note include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “Shawn Ryan Show” steady at #6, iHeartPodcasts’ “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” rising two spots to #9, and Silverloch’s “VINCE” falling two places to #20. See the complete chart here.

Industry News

NPR, NYTimes Pods Remain Atop Podtrac Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts chart for April 2025, based on U.S. unique monthly audience, and the top five shows remain unchanged from the March ranker. At #1 is NPR’s “NPR News Now,”img followed by The New York Times’ “The Daily” at #2, NPR’s “Up First” at #3, NBC News’ Dateline NBC at #4, and FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” at #5. Other radio-centric podcasts of note include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” rising two spots to #6, and Silverloch’s “VINCE” falling 11 places to #18. See the full chart here.

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“VINCE” Debuts at #7 on Podtrac’s March Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its March Top Podcasts ranker for the U.S. based on unique monthly audience andimg 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.

Industry News

Podtrac’s February Top Podcasts Chart Published

The New York Times “The Daily” remains in the #1 spot on Podtrac’s February 2025 Top U.S. Podcasts chart based on Unique U.S. Monthly Audience. NPR’s “NPR News Now” and “Up First” are #2 and #3,img respectively. Other podcasts of note include Cumulus Podcasts Network’s “Shawn Ryan Show” at #5 and Dan Bongino’s “The Dan Bongino Show” at #6. DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” rises three spots to the #10 rank in February and The New York Times’ “Ezra Klein Show” debuts on the chart at #15. See the complete chart here.

Industry News

Podtrac Releases September Podcast Ranker

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 Yorkim 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.

Industry News

Podtrac Releases Podcast Ranker for June

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 –im 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.

Industry News

“The Daily” Stays Atop Podtrac Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts ranker for May 2024 (based on U.S. unique monthly audience for participating shows) and The New York Times’ “The Daily” remains ranked #1, followed by NPR’s “NPRim News Now” and “Up First” at #2 and #3 respectively. Other podcasts of note include FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” rises one spot to #7; The DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” moves up one to #8 and “The Dan Bongino Show” also climbs one spot to #9. See the complete ranker here.

Industry News

Podtrac Releases April Podcast Ranker

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.  Otherim 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.

Industry News

Change at #1 in Podtrac’s March Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its Podcast Industry Ranking for March 2024 (based on U.S. unique monthly audienceim for participating podcasts) and, while not a lot changes from last month, NPR’s “NPR News Now” took over the #1 spot from The New York Times’ “The Daily,” which falls to #2. Cumulus Podcasts Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” rises one spot to #10, and FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” climbs two places to #12. See the complete chart here.

Industry News

Podtrac’s February 2024 Podcast Ranker

The New York Times’ “The Daily” remains in the #1 spot on Podtrac’s U.S. Podcast ranker for February (based on unique U.S. monthly audience for participating podcasts) NPR’s “NPR News Now” and “Upim First” are #2 and #3, respectively, with NBC News’ “Dateline NBC” at #4. Other talk radio-related podcasts of note include The Daily Wire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” rising two spots to #7, iHeartPodcasts’ “Stuff You Should Know” up two places to #9, and Dan Bongino’s “The Dan Bongino Show” up one spot to #11. You can see the complete ranker here.

Industry News

Podtrac Lauches Global Ranker Including YouTube Views

Podtrac announces that it is launching its newest ranker – The Podcast Global Industry Ranking of Top Publishers and Networks – of which it says, “For the first time, the global reach of top podcast publishers and networks is being made publicly available for advertisers, agencies, and the industry at large.  Andim while traditional podcast metrics and rankers have focused on the RSS distribution of podcasts, Podtrac’s new Global ranking also includes the viewership of podcasts on YouTube – another industry first.” The company adds, “By encompassing YouTube viewership alongside traditional metrics, the industry gains an improved framework for capturing podcast engagement across platforms and borders. It provides advertisers, agencies, and industry stakeholders with the reach and influence of the key podcast players.”

Industry News

Podtrac Publishes January Top U.S. Podcasts Survey

Releasing U.S. podcast listening data for January, Podtrac reports that The New York Times’ “The Daily” unseats NPR’s “NPR News Now” as the #1 show on its chart, based on U.S. unique monthly audience.im NPR holds the #2 and #3 spots with “NPR News Now” and “Up First,” respectively. Commercial radio-related podcasts finishing in the top 20 include DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” unchanged at #9, “The Dan Bongino Show” down one spot to #12, and FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” up one spot to #14. This chart reflects programs that opt in to Podtrac measurement.

Industry News

Podtrac Releases Top U.S. Podcasts Chart for December

Today (1/5), Podtrac releases its chart of the Top U.S. Podcasts for December 2023 based on Unique U.S. Monthly Audience. Rising three places to the #1 spot is NPR’s “NPR News Now,” followed by Theim New York Times’ “The Daily” at #2 and NPR’s “Up First” at #3. News/talk radio-related podcasts finishing in the top 20 include DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show,” down one place to #9, Dan Bongino’s “The Dan Bongino Show” steady at #11, and FOX Audio Network’s “The FOX News Hourly Update” up one place to #15. See the full chart here.

Industry News

No Changes in Top Tier of Podtrac’s November Top Podcasts Chart

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts, Publishers and Sales Networks charts for the month of November and the Top Podcasts chart – based on unique monthly audience – shows no movement among the topim five, with The New York Times’ “The Daily” remaining in first place. NPR’s “Up First” is #2 and NBC News’ “Dateline NBC” is #3. Commercial radio-related podcasts of note in the top 20 include The Daily Wire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” – down two spots to #8 – and Dan Bongino’s “The Dan Bongino Show” – down two spots to #11. FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” slipped one place to #16.

Industry News

“The Daily” Stays Atop Podtrac’s August Podcast Ranker

According to data from Podtrac (based on U.S. unique monthly audience), The New York Times’ “The Daily” stays atop its Top Podcasts chart for the period of August 2023. The Daily Wire/Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” stayed in its spot at #7, iHeartPodcast’s “Stuff You Should Know”im remained at #9, Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” rose one spot to #11, and FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” fell one spot to #16.  Other data from Podtrac from this report includes: 1) U.S. unique monthly audience increased for all but one of the Top 20 publishers in August 2023 over July 2023; 2) The average U.S. unique monthly audience for the Top 20 publishers was up 13% month-over-month and down 3% over July 2022; 3) Total global downloads for the Top 20 publishers were up 7% month-over-month and flat year-over-year; and 4) The combined audience for the Top Sales Networks was up 15% month-over-month.

Industry News

Podtrac Releases June’s Top Podcasts, Podcast Publishers

PODTRAC LogoAccording to Podtrac’s latest stats, the average U.S. “Unique Monthly Audience” for the Top 20 publishers dipped 3% month-to-month, but improved by that same percentage compared to June 2022. “Total Global Downloads” for the Top 20 publishers remained steady month-to-month; however, it declined 3% versus this time last year. The combined audience for the Top Sales Networks was up 5% month-to-month. The top ten podcasts by US Unique Monthly Audience (June 2023) are: “The Daily” (New York Times); “Dateline NBC” (NBC News); “Morbid” (Wondery); “Up First” (NPR); “NPR News Now” (NPR); “SmartLess” (Wonderly); “The Ben Shapiro Show” (Daily Wire); “Stuff You Should Know” (iHeartPodcasts); “Pardon My Take” (Barstool Sports); and “The Dan Bongino Show” (Dan Borgino). With a US “Unique Monthly Audience” of 31,625,000 (and 833 active shows), iHeartPodcasts is the top podcast publisher. It is followed by Wondery; NPR; NBC News; New York Times; Daily Wire; The Walt Disney Company; Barstool Sports; Vox Media; and PRX.