10 podcasts publishers hit 900 million streams and downloads in just one month, with iHeart radio and NPR accounting for almost half of all that traffic, according to new research.
Data gathered by Learnbonds.com indicates that only ten podcast publishers accounted for 893.78 million streams and downloads in May 2020. The publishers host podcasts on diverse topics with a global reach.
iHeart Radio, PRX accounted for 47% streams
iHeartRadio podcasts attracted the highest downloads and streams at 216.15 million followed by NPR with 208.92 million. Among the top ten podcast publishers, iHeart Radio and NPR accounted for 47.6% of the streams and downloads. In the third spot, there is New York Times podcasts which attracted 130.28 million streams and downloads. In the fourth spot, there is PRX which had 82.87 million streams and downloads while Barstool Sports closed the top five categories with 55.46 million streams.
Other publishers with top podcast streams and downloads include Wondery (53.64 million), NBC News (41.97 million), Cumulous/Westwood One (37.74 million), WNYC Studios (35.91 million) and Kast Media (30.74 million).
The publishers are among the platforms pushing mainstream adoption of podcasts. According to the Learnbonds.com research report: “The growing downloads and streams for the highlighted publishers are driven by various factors like marketing. However, most people might have turned to podcasts as a means of passing time while in lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.”
The Learnbonds.com data also overviewed countries where podcasts are popular. South Korea is leading with 53% of citizens having listened to podcasts. Podcasts are also popular in Spain with 39% of citizens having listened to podcasts. In the third spot, there is Ireland with 37% followed by Sweden with 35% while the United States closes the fifth slot with 35%.
In the sixth spot is Italy with 30% followed by Canada at 29%. Podcasts are also popular in Australia (27%), France (25%), Japan (23%), Germany (21%), and the United Kingdom (21%).
Source: LearnBonds
