ARN/iHeartMedia named Australia’s #1 podcast publisher

Former Assistant Editor

Eighteen new podcast titles have debuted on the latest Australian Podcast Ranker, which also named ARN/iHeartMedia as the top podcast publisher in the country.

For the first time, the ranker has been expanded to include a Top 10 publisher listing. ARN/iHeartMedia is #1, with 8,448,976 monthly downloads across its 324 active podcasts.

In second is Southern Cross Austereo, with 7,214,152 monthly downloads, coming in ahead of News Corp Australia, UK-based Audioboom and Stitcher.

“Today’s Podcast Ranker results show the depth and strength of ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network content offering,” said ARN head of commercial audio & podcasts Corey Layton.

:As a leader in the podcast space, we will continue to extend and diversify our offering, as part of our commitment to give brands and listeners access to the best local and global podcasts.”

New titles to enter the ranker for the month of May come from publishers Audioboom and Western Australian Newspapers. Podcasts to debut included, Matt & Alex – All Day Breakfast at #19 (SCA-PodcastOne Australia), CLAREMONT: The Trial at #25 (West Australian Newspapers), and The Fighter & The Kid at #30 (ARN/iHeartMedia).

Audioboom’s No Such Thing As A Fish also dropped (#8), as well as their Casefile True Crime podcast which debuts at the #1 Australian podcast and at #2 overall.

“The addition of the new Top 10 Publishers list, along with the provision of new data on total monthly downloads and podcast episode numbers provides new detail on the scale of podcasting in Australia and gives advertisers a more complete, independent report to track and compare podcast performance,” said Commercial Radio Australia chief executive Joan Warner.

The #1 podcast in the country remained ARN/iHeartMedia’s Stuff You Should Know, hosted by Josh Clark and Charles W. Bryant from Stuff Media.

May was also a big month for downloads overall, with total show downloads increasing by 40.5 million compared with April. That represents a 20% increase, with more listeners clearly turning to podcasts during isolation and lockdown.

“It is great to see premium Australian podcasts continuing to grow audiences, and in turn offering new environments for advertisers,” said SCA head of podcasting Grant Tothill in a statement.

“We are seeing increased demand for trusted Australian voices to talk about brands throughout this challenging period which in turn has resulted in strong advertising revenue growth, with PodcastOne Australia recording its biggest revenue month in June.

Original podcast downloads on the platform grew 127% between March 1 and June 1, with SCA representing the largest number of original podcasts in the Top 100 Australian titles.

“Comedy, Sport and News-based original podcasts and Radio podcasts have led the way. Health, Wellbeing and Business categories are now starting to show growth as Australians transition to their new normal,” said Tothill.

The Australian Podcast Ranker is published by Triton Digital in accordance with IAB Tech Lab’s Podcast Measurement Guidelines.

Check out the full ranker for May here.

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Recent comments (5)
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Dylan
16 Jun 2020 - 9:58 am

SCA’s Podcast One what a Croc ! ARN/iHeartMedia is #1 Podcaster.

Ray
16 Jun 2020 - 10:12 am

CONGRATULATIONS ARN !!!!!!!!!!!
ARN/iHeartMedia as the top podcast publisher in the country.

Paul
16 Jun 2020 - 10:34 am

I thought Grant Blackley invented the podcast.

S
16 Jun 2020 - 5:41 pm

The problem is this list is only representative of companies that have paid for the privilege of being included in this survey. I guarantee if you included other Australian podcasts (and probably global – new media companies like Rooster Teeth have a large established audience down here) the survey would have a very different result – and might make the existing media outlets already included a little nervous.

I'm the podman
17 Jun 2020 - 4:17 pm

Nice work ARN/iHeart! It will be interesting to see when all companies take part in the ranker. It seems like a 2 horse race at the moment but if Acast/Nova’s 30M+ monthly downloads feature, it will be a game changer!

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