Podcasts continue to be a hot commodity, and analytics company Podtrac is keeping score of the most popular U.S. podcasts. The November 2019 numbers are out now — take a look to see if your favorite podcast made the top 20.
News podcasts feature heavily on this list with “The Daily” (produced by the New York Times) and “Up First” from NPR regularly ranked #1 and #2, respectively. Additionally, “Us Weekly’s Hot Hollywood,” a celebrity news podcast, debuted on the list this month at #5, pushing “The Ben Shapiro Show” down one slot.
Many of the podcasts on the list could be described accurately as “radio on demand” because they are repurposed versions of programs that also air on broadcast FM, including “This American Life” (#4), “The Ben Shapiro Show” (#6, )“Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” (#9), and “Fresh Air” (#14).
Note that broadcasters also dominate the publishers on the list, with eight of the 20 from NPR alone. iHeartMedia produces the #3 ranked “Stuff You Should Know;” WNYC Radio produces “RadioLab” (#15); PRX produces “TED Talks Daily” (#18); and NBC News produces “Dateline NBC” (#20).
The Podtrac Top 20 Podcasts ranking is based on unique monthly audience.
