Audio, Radio & Podcasts

Thousands of guests appeared on the top-ranked podcasts in 2022, but a relatively small number accounted for a majority of appearances. 76% of top-ranked podcasts brought on at least one guest in 2022, and 27% almost always or regularly featured guests.

To offer a taste of the variety of topics the top-ranked podcasts represent, and to give a sense of what podcast listeners experience, we compiled clips from the shows we studied.

We asked researchers how they used the newest generation of large language models to analyze roughly 24,000 podcast episodes.

The transition of the news industry away from print, television and radio into digital spaces has caused huge disruptions in the traditional news industry, especially the print news industry. Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices.

About eight-in-ten Americans ages 12 and older listen to terrestrial radio in a given week.

Hundreds of local and regional radio and television stations comprise the U.S. public media system.

True crime stands out as the most common topic of top-ranked podcasts in the United States.

True crime is the most common topic, making up 24% of top-ranked podcasts; 15% of the top podcasts focus on news. The next most common topics are politics and government (10%); entertainment, pop culture and the arts (9%); and self-help and relationships (8%).

The audio news sector in the U.S. is split by modes of delivery: traditional terrestrial (AM/FM) radio and digital formats such as online radio and podcasting.

At least half of Black podcast listeners regularly listen to podcasts about entertainment and pop culture; self-help and relationships; comedy; and money and finance.