Edison Research announces the Top 50 Podcasts in the U.S. based on reach for Q4 2023 among weekly podcast listeners age 13+.
The list ranks podcast networks based on total audience reach from Edison Podcast Metrics. The Q4 2023 ranker was conducted from October 9, 2023 – December 23, 2023, and is based on surveys of 5,356 weekly podcast listeners age 13+.
The top three shows in Q4 remain unchanged in rank from Q3: The Joe Rogan Experience, Crime Junkie, and The Daily.
The Top 10 Podcasts in the U.S. for Q4 2023:
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Crime Junkie
- The Daily
- Stuff You Should Know (up from #9 in Q3)
- Dateline NBC (up from #10 in Q3)
- New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce (Top 10 debut)
- This American Life (down from #4 in Q3)
- This Past Weekend w/Theo Von (down from #5 in Q3)
- The Ben Shapiro Show (up from #17 in Q3)
- SmartLess (down from #6 in Q3)
While there was some movement among ranks four through ten in the Top 10, the big story is New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. New Heights not only broke into the Top 10 in Q4 at #6, but the show skyrocketed straight into the Top 10 from #67 in just one quarter (Q3), having been out of the Top 100 podcasts in the prior quarter (Q2). Edison Podcast Metrics data validated the “Taylor Swift Effect” on New Heights in Q4 of 2023 as the show gained four and a half times the number of listeners, and saw a change in composition to 50% female listeners.
In the Top 50 for the first time: The Megyn Kelly Show and The Herd with Colin Cowherd. Kelly has been in the spotlight more lately and had former President Trump on her show at the end of September. Cowherd’s company, The Volume, has been courted by several private equity firms recently.
Making moves up the chart: After a year-long hiatus, Cancelled with Tana Mongeau was out of the Top 400 in Q1 2023 but after a reboot in April, has now grown to #45. Media coverage culminated with a controversial episode featuring Matt Rife.
ShxtsNGigs posted similar gains, being ranked out of the Top 500 in Q1 2023 and is now ranked #49. Both shows have received significant media coverage and have announced tour dates. Rotten Mango had not broken into the Top 100 as of Q1 2023 but has now risen to #37.
Out of the Top 50: No Jumper and The Always Sunny Podcast, both in the Top 50 last quarter amidst some controversy, drop out of the Top 50 this quarter. Criminal drops out of the Top 50 for the first time.
Edison Podcast Metrics is the only podcast measurement service in the U.S. that measures the relative audience size of all podcasts and podcast networks; this includes networks and shows that have not opted in to other industry rankers.
The podcast show ranker is derived from data collected continuously during the fourth quarter of 2023, interviewing 5,356 weekly podcast consumers ages 13 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. This ranker measures reach as a percentage of the weekly podcast listening audience.