The Media Monitors Podcast Listener survey was fielded between June 17th and 30th, 2022. 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 once again retained the top slot on our ranker for Q2 2022. New shows to our Top 200 include The Draymond Green Show (#76) co-produced by The Volume and Sinisterhood (#107) co-produced by Cloud10.
NPR returns after it’s conspicuous absence from the top publisher list last quarter. Though there are no new shows on our list, NPR fan favorites Planet Money (#22), NPR News Now (#56) and Up First (#110) have returned after a brief dip.
Spotify comes in at number 2 in our ranker with the inclusion of True Crime podcasts from Parcast Network – Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories (#58), Haunted Places (#71), and Serial Killers (#89). Popular TikTok influencer Addison Rae’s podcast That Was Fun? With Addison & Sheri breaks into the Top 200 at #178, and Spotify Original Nosy Neighbors comes in at #184.
Independent podcasts using Patreon to distribute premium versions and/or give listeners a way to support the show, tallied 16 (up from 15 last quarter) in the Top 200. Independent shows (no mentions of Patreon on their websites/podcast descriptions) counted for another 29 of the Top 200 (up from 27).
Top 25 Podcasts from Q2 2022
The Top 25 Podcast list has some unfamiliar names this quarter, including Distractible (#8), MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories (#14) and Rotten Mango (#25). These podcasts share a common theme, which is probably obvious to any younger readers. For those who missed it, the theme exists in the podcasts we’ve become familiar with at the top of the chart: Impaulsive with Logan Paul (#6), The Breakfast Club (#7), Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain (#10), H3 Podcast (#17), Dark History (#23), and Murder, Mystery & Makeup (#24).
To spell it out, the stars/hosts of these podcasts are all influencers and/or have large pre-existing followings on YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, on radio, and other similar platforms. For our purposes we’ll only be looking at YouTube, starting at the top:
Impaulsive with Logan Paul (#6): The podcast’s YouTube channel has 4.06 Million subs. Logan Paul’s channel has 23.5 million.
The Breakfast Club (#7): The morning radio show/podcast’s YouTube channel has 5.15 million subs.
Distractible (#8): Hosted by Mark Fischbach (Markiplier’s YouTube has 33.3 million subs, Wade Barnes (LordMinion777 has 1.76 million subs on YouTube), and Bob Muyskens (muyskerm has 1.01 million subs on YouTube).
Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain (#10): Emma has 11.7 million subs on YouTube.
MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories (#14): MrBallen has 6.41 million subs on YouTube.
H3 Podcast (#17): The podcast has 2.94 million subs on YouTube.
Dark History (#23): Bailey Sarian has 6.46 million subs on YouTube.
Murder, Mystery & Makeup (#24): Also hosted by Bailey Sarian above.
Rotten Mango (#25): Stephanie Soo has 2.67 million subs on YouTube.
Podcasts are a logical extension of these influencer’s core brands, and with their built-in audiences the podcasts are becoming a staple of the Top 25. It will be interesting to track in Q3 whether Will Ferrell’s new podcast Clown Parade: An Anthological Character Piece Carefully Curated by Las Culturistas follows the same trend, as it premiered June 29th(the last day of our fielding period).
Top 10 Categories from Top 200 Podcasts
| Rank | Category | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Comedy | 55 |
| 2 | True Crime | 35 |
| 3 | News | 28 |
| 4 | Society & Culture | 25 |
| 5 | Sports | 12 |
| 6 | TV & Film | 8 |
| 7 | History | 7 |
| 8 | Arts | 5 |
| 8 | Music | 5 |
| 10 | Business | 4 |
Comedy retains its spot as the most popular genre of podcast, True Crime has held strong, and News makes a bit of a comeback pushing Society & Culture down to #4.
Notable Comedy podcasts from Q2 in our Top 200: The 85 South Show from iHeartRadio moved from #79 last quarter to #31 this quarter, Teachers Off Duty (#50), Banter with Sapnap and Karl Jacobs (#70), Therapy Gecko (#92), Club Random with Bill Maher (#114), and Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer (#131) from Team Coco, the team behind Conan O’Brien’s podcast.
Contact Media Monitors if you have questions or would like to learn more about our data.