Thoughts on the Top 20 Most Popular Podcasts

Podtrac updated its list of the 20 most-listened-to podcasts for the month of December:

It remains fascinating how successful short, daily podcasts are. The Daily is No. 1 nearly every month and is followed by two others of the same format, NPR News Now and Up First. The 15-30 minute podcasts are routine morning or afternoon listens for an increasing number of Americans. Thus far, The Daily is the closest a digital show has come to a daily habit for commutes, walks, runs, and breaks.

The genre could find success under other podcast networks, as well. The country is split 50-50 on most political issues, yet The Daily and NPR's podcasts only provide a liberal point of view. So there is an opportunity for a Right-leaning alternative from a conservative outlet, perhaps the Daily Wire.

ESPN adopted the same model for The ESPN Daily, a sports version of the New York Times' hit podcast. For sports though, podcasting is dominated by Barstool's Pardon My Take.

Pardon My Take is the only sports podcast to make the list. I've made the comparison numerous times that Big Cat and PFT are digital media's Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. Like the PTI duo, Pardon My Take doesn't have a No. 2. It's hard to picture a sports podcast even cutting the gap to Pardon My Take any time soon. In 2020, Big Cat and PFT successfully kept the show away from divisive issues that swarmed most other sports shows. Pardon My Take is the entertaining escape that sports shows are supposed to be.

Looking ahead, podcasts could move up or down the list based on their video availability. Podcasts are increasingly being offered in video form, which naturally takes away from audio consumption. Steven Crowder's Louder with Crowder, most notably, is primarily consumed on YouTube, where Crowder's channel has over five million subscribers. Overall, Crowder's reach exceeds some of the most downloaded podcasts. I suspect Apple Podcasts will eventually offer podcasts in both audio and video form, à la the Joe Rogan Experience (not counted by Podtrac) on Spotify.

Finally, The Breakfast Club climbed 13 spots, making it iHeart's second-ranked podcast. In December, iHeart was the lead publisher with 243,110,000 global downloads and streams, well ahead of second-place NPR's 192,769,000.