News podcasts dominate the latest Australian Podcast Ranker
16 July 2025 · News · Podcastinfo
ABC News Top Stories has snared top spot in the latest Australian Podcast Ranker, edging out Hamish & Andy, with the ABC’s Mushroom Case Daily – in third.
The latest result is reflective of the thirst for updates on the trial of Erin Patterson – which captured the attention of the world – with Top Stories created specifically for the digital audience – explaining the key stories of the moment in under two minutes.
Mamamia Out Loud and Shameless round out the top 5.
Click chart to enlarge
The latest ranker sees ARN’s iHeart attracting over 7 million unique listeners, with 23.5 million downloads – as well as the first-time appearance of The New York Times podcasts, represented by iHeart locally.
The Daily debuted at #12 overall, claiming the #1 spot for international news, while The Ezra Klein Show and Hard Fork also entered the Top 200.
Life Uncut jumped four places to #7 overall, largely driven by listener interest in Brittany Hockley’s marriage and Laura Byrne’s third pregnancy.
Other highlights include The Daily Aus climbing four spots to #18, BBC’s Global News Podcast jumping 12 places to #27 and She’s On The Money moving up six spots to #44.
Corey Layton, ARN’s Head of Digital Audio, said “Our iHeart network continues to lead the market, offering unmatched scale and connection for advertisers and partners.”
“We’re proud to welcome The New York Times podcasts to the Australian Ranker with The Daily landing straight in the Top 20 and other debutants like The Ezra Klein Show and Hard Fork resonating with listeners. Locally, Life Uncut’s 100 million download milestone is an extraordinary achievement for Britt and Laura – a testament to their ability to consistently engage audiences with content that delivers real impact.”
Industry body Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) says podcasting has now reached a significant step-change, with new research revealing 52% of Australians are now reporting they are listening to or watching one or more podcasts every month.
CRA says the sustained and consistent growth in podcasting has been exceptional with reported listening more than doubling in the past five years from 25% of Australians back in 2020.
CRA CEO Lizzie Young says this milestone demonstrates that the medium has crossed from emerging to essential:
“Podcasting has reached scale, and that requires measurement that’s fit for purpose. The industry has united behind a single source of truth because advertisers need consistency and clarity to invest with confidence.”
CRA says its demos and data reveal that the True Crime genre is delivering active buyers, not just browsers, with a 19.2% reach of monthly podcast listeners and premium female 25-54 skew.
Today, CRA has confirmed the extension of its partnership with Triton Digital to continue delivering the ranker.
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STRONG GROWTH FOR NINE PODCAST NETWORK DRIVEN BY ORIGINAL CONTENT AND NEWS
July 16, 2025
Nine’s Podcast Network delivered impressive growth figures in June 2025, demonstrating continued strength in listener engagement and downloads.
Downloads saw a robust 3% year-on-year increase, hitting 4.12 million, complemented by a further 3% year-on-year rise in listener numbers, now at 1.63 million.
Original content continued to be a key driver of audience growth and engagement, with The Mushroom Trial: Say Grace reaching #40 on the June Triton All Australian Podcast Ranker with over 148K
June 2025 Original Podcasts – Top 3 by Listeners:
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Nine News: 166,000 listeners (a remarkable 98% increase year-on-year and 5% month-on-month growth)
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The Mushroom Trial: Say Grace: 148,000 listeners
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The Morning Edition: 101,000 listeners (up 8% year-on-year)
The network’s popular catch-up radio podcasts continued to resonate strongly with listeners, further cementing the enduring appeal of Nine’s audio content.
June 2025 Catch-up Podcasts – Top 3 by Listeners:
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Ben Fordham Live: 147,000 listeners (up 3% year-on-year)
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3AW Breakfast with Ross and Russel: 55,000 listeners (a robust 48% increase year-on-year)
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3AW is Football: 50,000 listeners
Nine Audio’s Head of Digital Growth, Mia Stern, said: “We are incredibly pleased with the continued growth of our podcast network in June. These results underscore the strength of our diverse content offering, from compelling original series like ‘The Mushroom Trial’ to the trusted news and current affairs coverage provided by 9News and our popular radio catch-up programs.”
“The significant year-on-year growth, particularly in listener numbers and downloads, highlights our commitment to delivering high-quality audio experiences that resonate with a broad audience.”
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16 July 2025
ABC Mushroom Case Daily continues to grow in June
Mushroom Case Daily was the third most listened to podcast in June with 670,000 listeners, according to the June Triton Australian Podcast Ranker released today.
ABC Head of Audio on Demand Jessica Radburn said: “It demonstrates again that when there are high public interest stories, Australian audiences turn to the ABC to understand them.
“Sensing the strong audience interest, months before the trial started the team developed a clear strategy for how the show could produce daily episodes during the court proceedings.
“It was important to cover this story in a way that balanced the undeniable public interest with respect to the tragic human impacts at the centre of the trial.”
The ABC had four out of the top 10 podcasts in the June Triton Australian Podcast Ranker with ABC News Top Stories taking No 1 spot, up two places from the May list. Mushroom Case Daily was No 3 with an additional 46,000 listeners from last month, ABC News Daily No 6 and Conversations No 9.
The ABC had 3.1 million listeners across its podcast slate in June and had 44 titles in the expanded top 300 podcast ranker.
Mushroom Case Daily follows the case of Erin Patterson, who this month was found guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder for deliberately poisoning her lunch guests’ food with death cap mushrooms.
Throughout the trial court reporter Kristian Silva, producer Stephen Stockwell and journalist Rachael Brown kept audiences up to date with highlights from court, breaking down the legal process along the way.
“The biggest surprise for the team was how engaged the audience was in learning more about the minutiae of daily court processes and jury logistics, as well as following Stocky, Kristian and Rachael’s daily lives as they were reporting on the case,” Radburn said.
“We’ve had more than 8000 emails to the Mushroom Case Daily inbox from engaged audience members in Australia and around the world, which the team incorporated into the show to ensure the audience’s questions were responded to daily.
“There’s still more to come for the program, with the team continuing to dissect the verdict and respond to audience questions. They will also cover the sentencing.”
Since it began producing daily episodes, Mushroom Case Daily has become the ABC’s most successful podcast in a decade. It is the No 1 podcast on Apple Australia’s podcast chart, No 2 on Spotify’s Trending chart and has broken into the Spotify Top 20 –a first for an ABC podcast.
Mushroom Case Daily has also been featured on The Washington Post, The Project and Mamamia. Audiences can enjoy every episode of Mushroom Case Daily for free and ad free on ABC listen.
The Australian Podcast Ranker is a regular monthly snapshot of Australia’s most popular podcasts. The Ranker has been reporting podcast listening in Australia since 2019 and includes a wide cross section of Australian podcast publishers, from both radio and non-radio backgrounds. |
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