Top podcasts still entrenched

Podcast listening in the U.S. is still concentrated at the top: Edison Research’s Q1 2026 ranker again put The Joe Rogan Experience, Crime Junkie, and The Daily in the first three spots. (edisonresearch.com) Edison released the quarterly list on April 17, 2026, and said the top six shows held the exact same order as in Q4 2025. Call Her Daddy ranked No. 4, Smartless No. 5, and Stuff You Should Know No. 6. (edisonresearch.com) The biggest moves inside the top 10 came lower down the chart. Dateline NBC rose two spots to No. 7, MrBallen Podcast climbed eight spots to No. 9, and New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce rounded out the top 10. (edisonresearch.com) These rankings measure reach, not downloads. Edison says its service tracks what people say they listened to or watched in the past week across networks, shows, and platforms, then ranks shows by the share of weekly podcast consumers they reached. (edisonresearch.com) The Q1 2026 list was built from interviews with 5,163 U.S. weekly podcast consumers age 13 and older, collected continuously through the quarter. Edison said respondents reported both listening and watching, a distinction that matters as video podcasts keep expanding. (edisonresearch.com) Podcast use is still growing even as the leaderboard barely moves. Edison’s Podcast Consumer 2025 study said 55% of Americans age 12 and older had consumed a podcast in the last month and 40% had done so in the last week, both record highs. (edisonresearch.com) Video is now part of that audience math. Edison said 37% of Americans age 12 and older had watched a video podcast in the last month and 26% had watched one in the last week in 2025. (edisonresearch.com) That helps explain why familiar brands keep showing up near the top of a chart based on weekly reach. Daily news, true crime, celebrity interview, and talk formats already have large catalogs, recognizable names, and regular release schedules that make them easier to find and sample across apps. (edisonresearch.com; edisonresearch.com) There were still a few breakouts. Good Hang with Amy Poehler jumped from No. 38 to No. 13 after winning the Golden Globe for Best Podcast in January 2026, and Giggly Squad entered the top 50 for the first time after winning Podcast of the Year at the iHeart Podcast Awards in March. (edisonresearch.com) The quarter also brought returns and rebounds. The Dan Bongino Show reentered the top 50 after Bongino returned to podcasting in February, and The Herd with Colin Cowherd reached a record high, according to Edison. (edisonresearch.com) For now, the headline is less about a new No. 1 than about how little the top of the market moved from late 2025 into early 2026. Edison’s next quarterly release will show whether any of the newer entrants can turn a single-quarter jump into a durable place in the top tier. (edisonresearch.com; edisonresearch.com)