ABC tops the Australian Podcast Ranker for the first time, surge in true crime listening

It probably won’t surprise you that true crime podcast listening increases over the festive holiday period as people have time and travel to deep dive into series. What was more of a surprise in the December Triton Australian Podcast Ranker was the surge in news consumption with the ABC News Top Stories topping the Ranker for the first time. December also saw the debut of BBC Studios’ podcasts after Guardian Media Group joined the Ranker the month prior. Off the back of ARN iHeart’s recent partnership with the BBC, they were both the #1 Podcast Publisher and Sales Representation Podcast Network. SCA‘s LiSTNR have usually been first in the latter.

While Hamish and Andy and Casefile True Crime‘s listening may have dropped that can be largely attributed to both only releasing one new episode this period. Hamish and Andy’s Remembering Project, which is essentially a best of, was up more than 100 places to 23. The Howie Games and The Grade Cricketer were both also up in the Australian summer of cricket.

Another podcast I have been keeping my eye on is the US series Stuff You Should Know, at no 22. It used to consistently be No 1 and was ranked 8 on the December 2023 Ranker. This is the first time it has dropped out of the top 20. Monthly listeners have decreased by about 80,000 in the 12 months. The hosts, and the series aren’t doing anything differently but the drop off in numbers, which we are also seeing for Hamish and Andy too, are more reflective of the competition for audience ear, rather than lessening of quality of the product.

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.

 

 

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