The week of March 2-8 continues to be the peak week for downloads and audience for 2020 for Podtrac measured shows. This was followed by a downward trend through the week of April 6-12.
On a monthly basis, total downloads for 16 of the Top 20 Publishers listed on Podtrac’s March Publisher Rankings were flat or higher for the month of March vs. February. Average U.S. downloads for the top 10 Podcast Publishers were up 12% over February.
Podtrac measures thousands of podcast publishers and podcasts, including those listed on our monthly Publisher, Podcast and Category rankings, and over a billion downloads and streams a month. Each week during the coronavirus shutdown we’re keeping everyone up to date with weekly summaries of download and audience data across all the shows we measure.
Last week, we added an hourly distribution chart that shows behavioral impacts during commute times and the weekend. This week we add a chart that shows average monthly download growth across the Top 10 Podcast Publishers per Podtrac’s monthly rankings.
Year-To-Date U.S. Weekly Podcast Download and Audience Growth
Download growth since the first week of January is up 21% and audience growth is up 4% through the week ending April 12, 2020 across all Podtrac measured podcasts.
Week-Over-Week U.S. Podcast Download and Audience Growth
U.S. weekly podcast download growth was: -3% the week of April 6-12, -1% the week of March 30 - April 5, -4% the week of March 23-29, -2% the week of March 16-22, and -1% during the week of March 9-15, across all Podtrac measured podcasts.
U.S. weekly podcast audience growth was: -4% the week of April 6-12, +1% the week of March 30 - April 5, -5% the week of March 23-29, -8% the week of March 16-22, and -2% the week of March 9-15, across all Podtrac measured podcasts.
Monthly Podcast Download Growth - Top 10 Publishers
On a monthly basis, U.S. downloads for 16 of the Top 20 Publishers listed on Podtrac’s March Publisher Rankings were flat or higher for the month of March vs. February, even with the weekly downward trend which began the week of March 9-15.
Among the top 5 publishers, average U.S. monthly downloads per publisher were 110.6 million for March which was up 18% from February.
Among the top 10 publishers, average U.S. monthly downloads per publisher were 71.4 million for March which was up 12% from February.
Year-To-Date U.S. Weekly Podcast Download Growth for Top Categories
For Podtrac measured shows, download growth year-to-date for top podcast categories is: +59% for News, +25% for Comedy, +22% for Business, +9% for Society & Culture, and +2% for Sports through the week ending April 12.
Week-Over-Week U.S. Podcast Download Growth for Top Categories
For Podtrac measured shows downloads week-over-week for the week April 6-12 compared to the week March 30 - April 5 for top podcast categories are: -4% for News, -4% for Comedy, +3% for Business, 0% (flat) for Society & Culture, and -4% for Sports.
Year-To-Date U.S. Weekly Podcast Download Growth for All Categories
For Podtrac measured shows, download growth year-to-date by category through the week April 6-12 is: +59% for News, +33% for Government, +25% for Comedy, +23% for TV & Film, +22% for Business, +21% for Science, +17% for Kids & Family, +9% for Society & Culture, +7% for Religion & Spirituality, +7% for Technology, +6% for History, +4% for Health & Fitness, +3% for Leisure, +2% for Sports, +1% for Arts, -9% for True Crime, -12% for Education, -15% for Music, -29% for Fiction.
Week-Over-Week U.S. Podcast Download Growth for All Categories
For Podtrac measured shows, category downloads week-over-week for the week April 6-12 compared to the week March 30 - April 5 are: -4% for News, +6% for Government, -4% for Comedy, 0% for TV & Film, +3% for Business, +4% for Science, -1% for Kids & Family, 0% for Society & Culture, 0% for Religion & Spirituality, +5% for Technology, -10% for History, -2% for Health & Fitness, -6% for Leisure, -4% for Sports, -4% for Arts, +4% for True Crime, 0% for Education, -8% for Music, -10% for Fiction.
Year-To-Date U.S. Weekly Podcast Audience Growth for Top Categories
Weekly category audience year-to-date for top podcast categories for the week April 6-12 is: +20% for News, +9% Comedy, +6% for Business, +5% for Society & Culture, -14% for Sports.
Week-by-Week: U.S. Hourly Distribution - Weekday Commute & Weekends
Podcast streams and downloads during peak weekday morning commute times were down an average of 26% for the week of April 6-12 compared to the week of March 2-8 across all Podtrac measured podcasts. On Saturday April 11 the peak was up 13%, and for Sunday April 12 (Easter) the peak was up 8%.