I researched ~2,000 of the most popular podcasts in 2025

As we enter a new year, I've taken the last few days to pull in data of the top 100 podcasts in a bunch of different categories to see if there are any interesting trends. I know many are looking to take their podcast to the next level, start one in the new year, or just see what the top players are doing. I broke it out by social media, posting cadences, and RSS feeds. Hope this data helps you in your quest to perfect your podcast!

Social Media - By Accounts

• The table below shows the breakdown of social media usage by podcast category

• PS - ClawPod can help you automate your social clipping/posting :) head here to take a look

• My personal takeaway: It is clear some social media types really fit some genres, while some don't (like Comedy and LinkedIn). Spending lots of energy and time in the wrong space may not be a fruitful effort.

Genre	Instagram	Twitter	Facebook	LinkedIn	YouTube	TikTok
Arts	34.00%	31.00%	18.00%	4.00%	27.00%	11.00%
Business	50.00%	47.00%	24.00%	33.00%	41.00%	23.00%
Comedy	63.00%	67.00%	33.00%	3.00%	51.00%	31.00%
Education	39.18%	42.27%	37.11%	24.74%	50.52%	24.74%
Fiction	32.32%	34.34%	24.24%	3.03%	13.13%	11.11%
Government	23.71%	37.11%	19.59%	16.49%	22.68%	8.25%
Health & Fitness	43.88%	26.53%	27.55%	13.27%	25.51%	25.51%
History	23.08%	36.26%	15.38%	3.30%	15.38%	3.30%
Kids & Family	25.25%	14.14%	16.16%	3.03%	13.13%	2.02%
Leisure	26.80%	22.68%	15.46%	2.06%	24.74%	13.40%
Music	34.07%	41.76%	21.98%	2.20%	26.37%	14.29%
News	28.42%	30.53%	17.89%	0.00%	27.37%	14.74%
Religion & Spirituality	34.69%	28.57%	29.59%	7.14%	36.73%	14.29%
Science	41.86%	48.84%	31.40%	17.44%	46.51%	30.23%
Society & Culture	43.43%	38.38%	22.22%	8.08%	30.30%	25.25%
Sports	41.41%	57.58%	21.21%	0.00%	45.45%	22.22%
TV & Film	52.53%	45.45%	26.26%	2.02%	28.28%	23.23%
Technology	35.79%	66.32%	23.16%	36.84%	48.42%	24.21%
True Crime	32.99%	32.99%	30.93%	3.09%	26.80%	23.71%

 

Upload Statistics - By Genre

• The table below shows the breakdown of different uploading statistics like episodes a week, consistency, etc.

• The consistency score is my own formula - it essentially breaks down how often they uploaded outside of their average. 100 is the highest, 0 is the lowest.

• My personal takeaways:

  • For some categories, being consistent is a huge advantage to growing your listening base. Where for others, more posting throughout the week may be advantageous.

  • If you are just starting out, don't be discouraged you haven't found your footing yet. The average age in many categories is over 5 years. They've had time to find what works/what doesn't. Focus on what you can control!

Genre	Avg Episodes per Week	Avg Podcast Age (Years)	Avg Days per Episode	Avg Upload Consistency Score
Arts	1.08	5.27	7.61	61.0
Business	1.54	4.73	5.51	50.38
Comedy	1.27	6.02	5.19	55.44
Education	0.76	5.6	9.27	46.79
Fiction	0.66	4.42	14.11	51.35
Government	0.92	5.2	10.33	45.47
Health & Fitness	1.17	4.42	6.18	48.08
History	0.99	6.18	8.06	52.84
Kids & Family	0.69	5.26	12.51	51.64
Leisure	0.77	4.97	8.45	48.85
Music	0.83	6.4	8.95	50.99
News	3.88	3.42	2.1	35.52
Religion & Spirituality	2.53	4.24	4.57	50.57
Science	0.96	7.29	7.15	46.04
Society & Culture	1.02	4.73	6.77	49.62
Sports	3.13	5.2	2.09	30.39
TV & Film	1.43	4.38	5.02	46.12
Technology	1.17	5.34	6.83	44.42
True Crime	0.97	4.17	7.91	49.18

 

RSS Feeds- For All Podcasts

• This stemmed from me being curious what the most common RSS feeds/companies are

• Probably not a ton to takeaway from here unless you are looking for common platforms amongst others.

Rank	RSS Provider	Percentage
1	megaphone	20.79%
2	anchor	10.78%
3	omnycontent	8.49%
4	simplecast	8.22%
5	art19	5.77%
6	acast	4.41%
7	libsyn	4.14%
8	buzzsprout	3.43%
9	spreaker	3.32%
10	pdrl	2.99%
11	All Others	27.65%