One of the concerns sometimes expressed in the podcasting community is there are no new hits – that the top shows are the same and it’s too hard for a new show to bust out.
We have just compiled the latest results from Edison Podcast Metrics – the only data source covering the entire podcasting space – and there are several compelling stories of shows of more recent vintage that are now among the very most listened-to shows in the U.S.
But one story stands alone in the fourth quarter of 2023 – New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. Launched in September of 2022, this podcast from the football-playing brothers who faced each other in the Super Bowl in 2023 and who both appeared on an episode of Saturday Night Live in March of last year quickly built an audience. As of the second quarter of 2023, New Heights was safely within the top 200 podcasts in our ranking.
The unique set of circumstances that sent this show to the stratosphere is not at all easily duplicated. But this example of the Kelce Brothers, or as we reported last quarter This Past Weekend with Theo Von which is now in the Top Ten, or Distractible which debuted in 2021 and is now a top performer, shows that distinct podcasts regularly do break out.
We will be releasing the full Top 50 Podcast ranker from Edison Podcast Metrics in the coming weeks with more stories of podcast success.
