What is the most listened to podcast

About

Welcome to your daily guide to popular podcasts on Spotify. Whether you can’t get enough of them (like the TED Talks Daily episode about the guy who categorically refuses to believe the perfect spaghetti sauce exists), or, just getting into them for the first time – you’ve come to the right place. These Podcast Charts reflect what people are talking about, that’s getting the world talking. You’ll also see our editors call out funny, culturally important, or just plain bizarre podcasts each month you won’t want to miss. So whatever you’re into, you’ll find something that’s sure to entertain and inform.

What is the most listened to podcast

This is a list of the 10 most downloaded podcasts of all-time based on analytics from Stitcher.

If you’re looking for good podcasts to listen to, you can’t go wrong with the ten listed below.

10 Most Downloaded Podcasts of All-Time

1. Serial. This award-winning podcast blends investigative journalism with non-fiction storytelling and tells one story—a true story—over the course of a season. 

2. This American Life. As of writing, This American Life is the most popular podcast in the United States, with around one million people downloading each episode. 

3. Dr. Death. Reported and hosted by reporter Laura Beil, Dr. Death is a story about a charming neurosurgeon surgeon, 33 patients, and a spineless system.

4. Radiolab. A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab describes itself as “a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea.” 

5. The Daily. Hosted by American journalist Michael Barbaro, The Daily discusses the biggest stories of our time, told by the best journalists in the world.

6. Stuff You Should Know. Listen to Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant explore everything from genes to the Galapagos in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.

7. S-Town. S-Town is a new podcast from Serial and This American Life, hosted by Brian Reed, about a man named John who despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it.

8. Planet Money from NPR. From the producers of This American Life, Planet Money describes itself as a fun evening with a friend discussing the economy. 

9. TED Talks Daily. Listen to more than 2,000 TED Talks from remarkable people, including expert speakers on education, business, science, and beyond.

10. POD Save America. Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor are joined by journalists, politicians, comedians, and activists for a freewheeling conversation about politics and more.

Related Lists

  • The 10 Best Podcasts of All-Time

Or, browse all podcast recommendations.

Do you host a podcast?

Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.

Get Chartable Analytics »

Edison Research announces the comprehensive U.S. Top 50 Podcast chart for Q4 2021. This list ranks the 50 biggest podcasts by audience size, based on the Podcast Consumer Tracking Report, the only podcast measurement service that measures the relative audience size and demographics of all podcast networks. The Podcast Consumer Tracking Report is the only measurement based on actual listening, not downloads.

“It was an eventful year for podcasting,” said Edison Research SVP Tom Webster. “True Crime, Comedy, and News continue to be the most popular genres, but the entire list is a vibrant and diverse list of shows.”

Click here to download a static version of the Top 50 Most Listened To Podcasts in the U.S. Q4 2021

For information about how to subscribe to the Podcast Consumer Tracking Report, please email .

To embed in your own site please use:

<iframe style="height: 500px; width: 700px;" title="Edison Research Top 50 Podcasts" src="https://www.edisonresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/pctranker.html" scrolling="yes"></iframe>

A static version of the ranker follows:

What is the most listened to podcast

The Edison Research Top 50 Podcasts of Q4 2021 list is derived from data collected continuously Q1 2021 – Q4 2021, from surveying weekly podcast consumers ages 18 and older in the U.S. Participants indicate which podcasts they listened to in the past week along with a variety of demographic, psychographic, and purchase behavior information. The results are then coded and analyzed to ascertain the genre, network, and sales representation for each podcast. The relative audience size of each podcast network is then calculated and expressed as the percentage of weekly podcast listeners reached by that network. Surveys of over 8,000 podcast listeners in the U.S. were conducted Q1 2021 through Q4 2021.

Edison Research announces the comprehensive U.S. Top 50 Podcast chart for Q2 2021. This list ranks the 50 biggest podcasts by audience size, based on the Podcast Consumer Tracking Report, the only podcast measurement service that measures the relative audience size and demographics of all podcast networks. The Podcast Consumer Tracking Report is the only measurement based on actual listening, not downloads.

The top shows based on measurement from Q3 2020 – Q2 2021 are as follows:

  1. The Joe Rogan Experience
  2. The Daily
  3. Crime Junkie
  4. This American Life
  5. Stuff You Should Know
  6. My Favorite Murder
  7. Pod Save America
  8. Office Ladies
  9. Serial
  10. The Ben Shapiro Show

Scroll down to see the Top 50 list. The top three podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Daily, and Crime Junkie, also ranked in 1-2-3 order in the Top 50 Podcasts of 2020.

“This is the second anniversary of the Podcast Consumer Tracker, and the top shows have been fairly consistent over that time. Because our research covers the entire space, regardless of publisher or listening application, we have been able to report that stability even as the space continues to evolve,” said Edison Research SVP Tom Webster.

The Edison Research Top 50 Podcasts of 2021 list is derived from data collected continuously from Q3 2020 – Q2 2021, from surveying weekly podcast consumers ages 18 and older in the U.S. Participants indicate which podcasts they listened to in the past week along with a variety of demographic, psychographic, and purchase behavior information. The results are then coded and analyzed to ascertain the genre, network, and sales representation for each podcast. The relative audience size of each podcast network is then calculated and expressed as the percentage of weekly podcast listeners reached by that network. Surveys of over 8,000 podcast listeners were conducted Q3 2020 through Q2 2021.

“What is fascinating about these data is that we are seeing some marked differences between people who primarily get their podcasts through Apple Podcasts, those who primarily use Spotify, and those who mainly use YouTube. The character of the shows–and of the audiences–differs by platform,” added Webster.

Current subscribers to the Podcast Consumer Tracker include the top networks in podcasting as well as leading technology platforms, and is growing quarterly. Subscribers include SXM Media, Google, NPR, Wondery, ESPN/ABC/Disney, WarnerMedia, and more.

For information about the Podcast Consumer Tracker, contact Edison Research SVP Tom Webster at .

What is the most listened to podcast

About Edison Research

Edison Research is the leading podcast research company in the world and has conducted research on the medium for NPR, Wondery, PodcastOne, Slate, Spotify, Stitcher/Midroll, ESPN, WNYC Studios, and many more companies in the space. The company’s annual The Infinite Dial® study has been the most widely-cited data in the podcasting space since 2005, and Share of Ear® from Edison Research remains the only single-source measure in America of the relative size of podcast listening compared to other audio media. In 2019, the company introduced the Podcast Consumer Tracker, a quarterly study that provides the only comprehensive data on podcast listening by network in the world. Edison Research has been the sole provider of Election Day data to the National Election Pool for 17 years, conducting exit polls since 2004, and collecting real-time vote results in all 50 states to project and analyze results for every major presidential primary and general election.