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June 15, 2023

A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S.

Appendix A: Detailed tables

By Galen Stocking, Katerina Eva Matsa, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin, Elisa Shearer, Mark Jurkowitz and Shreenita Ghosh

Table showing that 15% of top-ranked podcasts focus on news and current events, 85% do not

Table showing that 69% of top-ranked podcasts are affiliated with a larger organization

Table showing % of top-ranked podcasts that are primarily about each topic. 24% focus on true crime

Table showing format of top-ranked podcasts. 38% use a deep reporting format.

Table showing 58% of top-ranked podcasts have a single host, 37% have multiple

Table showing average podcast episode release frequency in 2022. 40% were released roughly once a week

Table showing 54% of top-ranked podcasts had an average episode length of 20-49 minutes in 2022

Table showing 47% of top-ranked podcasts seek financial support from their audiences

Table showing 99% of top-ranked podcasts are available on Spotify, 91% are on Apple Podcasts

Table showing 7% of top-ranked podcasts are exclusive to Spotify

Table showing 51% of top-ranked podcasts have a video component

Table showing 97% of top-ranked podcasts with a video component make it available on YouTube

Table showing type of video that is released. 29% of top-ranked podcasts release a video of the podcast being recorded

Table showing 73% of top-ranked podcasts have a website

Table showing 8% of top-ranked podcasts have a discussion forum or Discord server

Table comparing formats of top-ranked podcasts by topic. 95% of true crime podcasts use a deep reporting format

Table showing that 84% of top-ranked podcasts about true crime are affiliated with a larger organization

Table showing 44% of top-ranked podcasts about politics and 36% of those about sports are affiliated with a news organization

Table showing 77% of top-ranked podcasts about politics and government and 71% of sports podcasts are focused on news and current events

Table showing 68% of top-ranked podcasts about self-help and 67% of those about true crime have a single host

Table showing how often top-ranked podcasts across topics released new episodes in 2022

Table showing average episode length of top-ranked podcasts in 2022, by topic. For true crime, 79% were 20-49 minutes long

Table showing 49% of top-ranked podcasts focused on news are about politics and government, while 28% of those not focused on news are about true crime

Table showing that among top-ranked podcasts focused on news, 79% are affiliated with a larger organization

Table showing that among top-ranked podcasts focused on news, 54% are not affiliated with a news organization

Table showing that among top-ranked podcasts, 40% of those not focused on news use a deep reporting format and 49% of those focused on news use a commentary format

Table showing 56% of top-ranked podcasts focused on news have a single host

Table showing 16% of top-ranked podcasts focused on news were released daily in 2022

Table showing that among top-ranked podcasts focused on news, 38% had episodes with an average length of 20-49 minutes in 2022

Table showing 63% of top-ranked podcasts focused on news have a video component

Table showing 60% of independent top-ranked podcasts seek audience support such as subscriptions or donations

Table showing 42% of top-ranked podcasts with a video component had an average episode length of 20-49 minutes in 2022

Next: Appendix B: List of top-ranked podcasts

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S.
1. Podcast topics
2. How podcasts connect with their audiences
3. Podcast ownership and funding
- About half of top-ranked podcasts seek financial support from listeners
- Independent podcasts are more likely to seek out audience support than those connected to a larger organization
4. Podcast format
- Top-ranked podcasts most often have a single host
- How frequently podcasts release episodes
5. Podcasts and news
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Detailed tables
Appendix B: List of top-ranked podcasts
- Names of the 451 top-ranked podcasts included in this report
Methodology
- Podcast selection
- Content analysis of top-ranked podcasts

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