SXM Media Reclaims Top Spot as Largest U.S. Podcast Network Based on Reach
Wondery/Audible/Amazon Music and WarnerMedia biggest gainers in rank
Edison Research announces the Top Podcast Networks in the U.S. for total network reach in Q3 2022, as SXM Media, Spotify, and iHeartRadio take the top three spots, respectively. After falling behind Spotify by a narrow margin in the Q2 report, SXM edges back ahead this time. Each are well out ahead of third place iHeartRadio, which in turn is comfortably head of the fourth spot on the chart, Audioboom. The list ranks the most listened-to podcast networks based on total audience reach from Edison Podcast Metrics.
The Top 10 Podcast Networks for Q3 2022:
SXM Media
Spotify
iHeartRadio
Audioboom
NPR
Wondery/Audible/Amazon Music
The New York Times
Audacy
Cumulus Podcast Network
Kast Media
Within the top ten, the biggest jump in rank goes to Wondery/Audible/Amazon Music, up two rank positions, propelled in part by their acquisitions of major shows like Morbid and My Favorite Murder. Bubbling below the top ten, WarnerMedia gained three levels in rank, now up to 14th.
This ranker measures reach as a percentage of the weekly podcasting audience. Rankings are compiled by measuring the total unduplicated reach of all the shows represented by a given network. Listening is credited to the producer and/or the network that represents the advertising for the show, not the platform or app that the listener uses to access the podcast.
Edison Podcast Metrics is the only podcast measurement service that measures the relative audience size and demographics of all podcast networks in the U.S. The network ranker is derived from data collected continuously Q4 2021 – Q3 2022, from surveying weekly podcast consumers ages 18 and older in the U.S. Participants indicate which podcasts they listened to in the past week along with a variety of demographic, psychographic, and purchase behavior information. Surveys of 11,675 podcast listeners in the U.S. were conducted Q4 2021 through Q3 2022. The complete list of the Top 30 Podcast Networks is below.
About Edison Research Edison Research conducts survey research and provides strategic information to a broad array of clients, including AMC Theatres, Apple, Disney, Facebook, Google, Oracle, Pandora, Sony and Univision. Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial® research series has been the survey of record for digital audio, social media, podcasting, smart speakers, and other media-related technologies since 1998. The study is now also conducted Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In 2014, the company introduced Share of Ear®, a quarterly survey that serves as the only single-source measure of all audio in the U.S. Edison Research is the leading podcast research company in the world and has conducted research for NPR, Slate, Spotify, SXM Media, ESPN, WNYC Studios, and many more companies in the space. Since 2004, Edison Research has been the sole provider of Election Day data to the National Election Pool, conducting exit polls, tabulated national vote across every county in the United States, and projections and analysis for every presidential primary and general election.
