The Media Monitors Podcast Listener survey was fielded between June 14th and 30th, 2021. Participants aged 18+ were screened on whether they had listened to a podcast in the last 7 days, then asked to list the podcast titles. Participants were encouraged to consult their podcast app of choice during the survey. These unassisted responses were then individually matched back to unique RSS feeds which were polled to collect information about genre and publisher.
Top Publishers from Top 200 Podcasts
The iHeartPodcast Network had a strong Q2, surging to the highest total number of podcasts for a publisher since we began measurement in 2020. Likely due to their multi-pronged approach of releasing new podcasts like Drama Queens (#11) and The Office Deep Dive with Brian Baumgartner (#170), new seasons for old-staples like The Ron Burgundy Podcast (#46), and podcast versions of their radio programs including The Bobby Bones Show (#66) and The Breakfast Club (#32)
NPR remained consistent this quarter with 12 podcasts in the Top 200 including Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (#53), and Throughline (#81). Spotify owned Parcast Network also had a strong quarter primarily due to their slate of True Crime podcasts including: Medical Murders (#138), Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories (#58), and International Infamy with Ashley Flowers (#194).
Top 25 Podcasts from Q2 2021
For those who remember our Q1 report in which The Daily was close to taking the #1 in our ranker, The Joe Rogan Experience ended up regaining much of the lost ground in Q2. It appears his listenership has returned to levels last seen in Q4 2020.
Welcome to Night Vale (#6), a staple of podcasting since 2012, saw a surge in popularity this quarter. Possibly due to a crossover episode in which they featured hosts/content from 23 other popular podcasts, wrapped up into the Night Vale universe. 11 of those 23 podcasts are from the Top 200 this quarter.
With the Bachelorette kicking off a new season in early June, 2 Black Girls, 1 Rose: A Bachelor Podcast (#23) jumped into the Top 25 this quarter, as well as Dark History (#22), a True Crime podcast from YouTube creator Bailey Sarian, available via YouTube and published as an Audioboom Original podcast.
Top 10 Categories from Top 200 Podcasts
| Category | # of Pods | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Comedy | 53 |
| 2 | Society & Culture | 35 |
| 3 | News | 33 |
| 4 | True Crime | 31 |
| 5 | Sports | 13 |
| 6 | History | 11 |
| 7 | TV & Film | 9 |
| 8 | Arts | 8 |
| 8 | Business | 8 |
| 10 | Science | 6 |
Comedy remains the most popular genre of podcast, but this quarter True Crime surged from 24 podcasts in Q1 to 31 in Q2.
Notable True Crime podcasts from Q2 in our Top 200: Red Collar (#91) from audiochuck, Supernatural with Ashley Flowers (#85) from Parcast Network, Snapped: Women Who Murder (#184) from Oxygen, and Algorithm (#193) from iHeartRadio and TenderfootTV.
NOTE: Last quarter we mistakenly attributed the H3 Podcast to Studio71. It has been corrected to The Roost Podcast Network. If you notice any discrepancies, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Contact Media Monitors if you have questions or would like to learn more about our data.