Photo Credit: Spotify
A new report suggests Spotify has surpassed SiriusXM as the largest podcast network in the United States.
Conducted by Edison Research, the report examines the top ten networks by Q2 2022. The list ranks the most-listened-to podcast networks based on their total audience reach, as determined by Edison Podcast Metrics.
It measures reach as a percentage of the weekly podcasting audience. Rankings are compiled by measuring the total unduplicated reach of all the shows represented by a given network. Listening is credited to the producer or network that represents the advertising for the show, not the platform or the app that the listener uses to access the podcast. That’s an important distinction that likely helps Spotify claim the top spot here.
The Top 10 Podcast Networks for Q2 2022
- Spotify
- SiriusXM Media
- iHeartRadio
- Audioboom
- NPR
- The New York Times
- Audacy
- Wondery
- Cumulus Podcast Network
- PRX
The ranking is derived from data collected continuously throughout Q3 2021-Q2 2022, from surveying weekly podcast consumers ages 18 and older in the US. Participants indicate which podcasts they listened to in the past week along with a variety of demographic, psychographic, and purchase behavior information. More than 8,000 podcast listeners in the United States took part in this survey through the listed period.
The period from 2018 to 2021, Spotify grew its podcast network from 185,000 to 3.2 million. That’s through a number of high-profile acquisitions that have helped make Spotify the largest podcast network in the United States.
Spotify acquired Anchor in 2019 to help users create podcasts easily. Then in 2020, Spotify acquired Megaphone to help it monetize podcasters by inserting ads in episodes. In 2021, the company acquired Podz, a podcast discovery platform. Spotify also has a number of high-profile content acquisitions under its belt–aside from Joe Rogan. Gimlet Media, The Ringer, and several others. Spotify has paid big bucks to be at the top of this list, so will the strategy continue to pay off?