Since podcasts first began almost 20 years ago, one thing has frustrated their makers – working out just how many people are listening.
But from today, a new, accurate UK podcast chart will reveal a top 25 every quarter. While the full list may surprise some in the audio industry, the No 1 show could have been predicted: The Joe Rogan Experience.
From Edison Research, a US firm, the new Edison Podcast Metrics UK chart ranks podcast listening based on total weekly audience reach.
Rogan, who signed an exclusive contract with Spotify in 2020 for a reputed $200m-plus, also tops the company’s US podcast chart. Aside from Rogan, and the New York Times’s The Daily, the UK top 10 is made up of British shows, including The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, Sh**ged Married Annoyed, The Rest Is Politics and No Such Thing As a Fish.
Edison derived its chart from data collected through interviews with 2,273 weekly podcast consumers aged 15 and older in the UK. Other trackers measure downloads but the company uses surveys to track listening and covers all platforms and networks. Information was gathered each day of the quarter so as to include podcast series which publish all episodes in one day.
Podcasts from independent companies do well. Goalhanger Podcasts, set up by Gary Lineker, has two shows in the top 25: The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is History.
Peter Crouch’s Tall or Nothing also has two in the chart – That Peter Crouch Podcast and The Therapy Crouch – as does The Fellas Studios, owned by YouTubers Callum Airy (known as Calfreezy) and Joshua Larkin (The Burnt Chip), with Saving Grace and The Fellas.
The BBC, perhaps surprisingly, has no shows in the top five, though one, Newscast, makes the top 10. It has six in the top 25, including what might be assumed to be niche shows The Infinite Monkey Cage, the comedy science show with Brian Cox and Robin Ince, and Uncanny, Danny Robins’ spooky real-life tales. The BBC has expanded massively into podcasts over the past few years, pushing listeners to its BBC Sounds app.
James Cridland, editor of Podnews, a daily industry letter, said: “This is a great sign of the growing maturity of the UK podcast industry. We’ve seen rankers for countries like the US, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand for some time, but nothing from the UK. What’s helpful about this ranker is that it measures every podcast out there – not just publishers who pay – so, for the first time, we’ve a good view into all the shows that people are listening to in the country.”
Podcasts are increasingly popular In Britain. In June, a survey by YouGov found that 50% of British adults had listened to a podcast in the past year. But before the Edison ranker, those interested in the metrics had to rely on charts from platforms such as Apple which, because of exclusivity contracts, do not include all podcasts.
In addition, Apple uses an algorithm to create its charts, which it describes as a “dynamic view” of the most popular and trending content on its podcast platform. The mysterious algorithm combines listens, follows and how often a show is “completed” (listened to all the way through), and is often a source of frustration for podcast makers, as Apple refuses to share how it is weighted.
Edison claims accuracy due to its survey methodology. It measured the relative audience size and demographics of all podcasts in the UK. Participants indicated which podcasts they listened to in the past week along with a variety of demographic, psychographic and purchase-behaviour information. Edison’s approach bears some resemblance to the radio audience listening measurements done by Rajar. Raja collects data by having listeners complete a seven-day diary based on their listening habits. Edison interviews podcast listeners for every single day of its research, so perhaps can claim even more accuracy.
“We want to be seen as the Billboard of podcasts,” said Melissa Kiesche of Edison. “We’re planning to bring out the ranker regularly, with the goal of giving podcasts even more popularity.”
The top 10
1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. The Diary of a CEO with
Steven Bartlett
3. Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster
4. Sh**ged Married Annoyed
5. That Peter Crouch Podcast
6. The Rest Is Politics
7. No Such Thing As A Fish
8. Newscast
9. The Therapy Crouch
10. The Daily
11. The Rest is History
12. The News Agents
13. The Infinite Monkey Cage
14. Happy Place
15. Parenting Hell
16. NewlyWeds
17. Saving Grace
18. Desert Island Discs
19. You’re Dead to Me
20. Stuff You Should Know
21. Money Box
22. The Fellas
23. Uncanny
24. Kermode & Mayo’s Take
25. Impaulsive with Logan Paul
