The Joe Rogan Experience, Crime Junkie, and The Daily top the list, as they did in Q4 2025. The top six shows remain in the same rank order as Q4, with other rank changes in the Top 10 noted below parenthetically. The full list of Top 50 podcasts is below. 

1. The Joe Rogan Experience  
2. Crime Junkie
3. The Daily
4. Call Her Daddy
5. Smartless
6. Stuff You Should Know
7. Dateline NBC (+2 rank positions since Q4 2025)
8. This Past Weekend with Theo Von
9. MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories (+8 rank positions since Q4 2025)
10. New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

And the Award Goes To…

After winning the inaugural Golden Globe for Best Podcast in January 2026, Good Hang with Amy Poehler soars from 38th to 13th in one quarter, marking the second consecutive quarter the show has reached a record high.  Other Golden Globe Best Podcast finalists that moved up the ranker: The Mel Robbins Podcast (+3), Up First (+1), and Armchair Expert (+12).

Notable Moves:

• The Giggly Squad breaks into the top 50 for the first time. It won Best Podcast of the Year at the iHeart Podcast Awards in March 2026.
• The Herd with Colin Cowherd hits a record high. Cowherd received criticism after launching an AI version of himself.
• The Dan Bongino Show reenters the top 50. Bongino returned to podcasting in February after a stint as FBI deputy director.
• Bubbling under: Rappers Joe and Jada reach 57th after climbing the ranks consistently since debuting in May 2025.

About Edison Podcast Metrics

The podcast show ranker is derived from data collected continuously during the first quarter of 2026, interviewing 5,163 weekly podcast consumers ages 13 and older in the U.S. Participants indicate which podcasts they listened to or watched in the past week along with a variety of demographic, psychographic, and purchase-behavior information. This ranker measures reach as a percentage of the weekly podcast audience.  

For more information on how to become a subscriber to the full datasets, please contact info@edisonresearch.com.

The post The Top 50 Podcasts in the U.S. Q1 2026 from Edison Podcast Metrics appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Since Edison Research joined SSRS in the Fall of 2025, we have highlighted a number of findings from Sports Poll, another amazing product from SSRS.

We are excited to announce that starting tomorrow Sports Poll will have its own separate newsletter called Sports Poll Highlights. Each edition will deliver sharp analysis and key takeaways from over 30 years of Sports Poll, the world’s longest-running tracking study on sports. Subscribers to Weekly Insights have early access to our first issue and to register for Sports Poll Highlights.

The inaugural issue breaks down one of the longest-running questions on Sports Poll: “Who is your favorite professional athlete?”.

In Q1 2026, Lionel Messi ranks slightly ahead of LeBron James as favorite athlete. One of the two has ranked #1 each quarter since the end of 2023. Sports Poll has measured the favorite athlete of Americans 12+ continuously since its launch in 1995. Over 32 years, only eight athletes have ranked #1 for at least one quarter. Messi and James continue to rank 1-2 in Q1 2026, but favorites have clearly grown more fragmented over time. At 3%, Messi’s position in the top spot is far cry from Michael Jordan’s peak, when 19% named him as their favorite during the Bulls’ last championship in 1998.

Sign up at this link to receive Sports Poll Highlights each week. Upcoming topics include prediction markets, the Savannah Bananas, the impact of the World Cup, and NBA star power. Subscribe to this weekly newsletter if you love data and want a smarter way to follow the action. For more information on Sports Poll, please visit our website.

The post Stay Ahead of the Game with Sports Poll Highlights appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Americans have more audio options than ever in the car. While competition for people’s ears has heightened in the car, one platform remains the clear leader: AM/FM Radio. Newly released Q1 2026 Share of Ear data shows that the majority of time spent listening to audio in the car among Americans 13+ goes to AM/FM Radio either over-the-air or through streams.

As of Q1 2026, 55% of in-car audio time is spent listening to AM/FM Radio. The next closest platform in the car is Streaming Audio. Time with Streaming Audio has grown over the 12-year history of Share of Ear but remains a distant competitor to AM/FM Radio among the total population ages 13+, with 16% of in-car audio time going to streaming platforms.

While streaming audio has gained considerable ground among Americans 13-34, AM/FM Radio remains the primary in-car listening platform. Among Americans 13-34, 46% of their in-car audio time is spent listening to AM/FM Radio and 30% with Streaming Audio sources.

Additional in-car listening platforms can be seen with a full Share of Ear subscription along with listening in other locations and by other age groups. Visit our website or contact our team to learn more about Share of Ear.

The post Radio Continues to Dominate In-Car Listening appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

This time of the year is one of the most active in sports, with the men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball tournaments, opening day for Major League Baseball, looming playoffs for the NBA and NHL, The Masters, and the upcoming NFL Draft. We can turn to Edison Podcast Metrics data to identify the Sports podcasts with the largest 13+ U.S. weekly audiences for the full year 2025.

Sports is one of the most popular podcast genres. The Sports podcast with the largest weekly audience is New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. While the show launched in 2022, it made a splash on the Edison Podcast Metrics charts in the fourth quarter of 2023 when Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s romance went public. While that relationship helped the show attract an early audience, it has maintained consistent popularity.

Top spots also go to other well-known sports commentators. Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay, from iHeartPodcasts and Shay Shay Media, is the second largest sports podcast; The Pat McAfee Show is third. The graphic below shows the top 10 Sports podcasts as measured by Edison Podcast Metrics.

Genre is defined as the podcast’s ‘Primary Category’ in Apple Podcasts and is selected by the show’s producer. A full ranking of shows by genre is available via subscription to Edison Podcast Metrics. Rankings include consumption of video podcasts as well as audio-only. Contact our team to learn more about an Edison Podcast Metrics subscription.

The post Top Sports Podcasts in the United States appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Edison Research at SSRS recently released the 2026 Infinite Dial, in partnership with SiriusXM Media. The Infinite Dial is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior, tracked annually since 1998. The Infinite Dial has tracked social media usage since 2008, and usage is now reported by 85% of the U.S. 12+ population.

Social media is both widely used and widely criticized within our society, especially when it comes to the lasting effects it can have on young users. Data from the 2026 Infinite Dial does show that the majority of American adults do favor a ban for those under age 16. More than half of Americans aged 18 and older (57%) believe that social media should be banned for young people. Interestingly, we also see some variation by political party. Those who identify with the Republican Party are more likely to support a ban (64%) than those who identify with the Democratic Party.

In addition to social media usage and perceptions, the broader Infinite Dial report provides important benchmarks for behaviors around streaming audio, podcasting, radio, smart audio, and never-before-seen data on AI usage. Find the full presentation and webinar recording on our website.

Industry experts at Edison Research at SSRS are available to be featured in your next podcast, event, or media story. Email us at info@edisonresearch.com to talk to a member of our team today.

The post How do Americans Feel About a Social Media Ban? appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

Recently this newsletter spotlighted the steady growth of podcasts to being the most popular listening platform in terms of daily time spent listening to spoken-word audio, narrowly surpassing AM/FM radio. Our past insight focused on 13+ Share of Ear data from the past ten years. Given the popularity of that post, we decided to dig a bit deeper and look at how these figures differ among various age groups.

Among Americans 13+, 40% of time spent with spoken-word audio is spent listening to podcasts; 39% is spent listening to AM/FM radio (including AM/FM streams), the historic spoken-word listening leader.

Spoken-word listening time among Americans 13-34 is dominated by podcasts, with 53% of time being spent with that specific platform, versus 23% of time going to AM/FM radio. Radio does rebound among 35–54-year-olds but still falls short with 47% of their spoken-word listening time going to podcasts and 35% going to AM/FM radio. Our story completely changes among Americans ages 55+, who spend the majority of their spoken-word listening time with AM/FM radio, at 55%, and less than one-quarter of their time with podcasts at 22%.

The dominance of podcast listening among younger age cohorts can certainly be attributed to their preference for on-demand content that also includes visual elements, qualities specific to podcasts and not radio. AM/FM radio carries a wide variety of spoken-word offerings, ranging from sports play-by-play and sports talk, NPR programming, news and entertainment talk shows, to political talk.

Share of Ear tracks other spoken-word audio sources including SiriusXM and audiobooks, but this particular analysis is just for AM/FM and podcasts. Products like Share of Ear and Edison Podcast Metrics measure consumption of both video and audio-only podcasts. Contact us today to learn more about subscription to either product.

The Infinite Dial 2026 from Edison Research at SSRS with SiriusXM Media

Just last week, Edison Research at SSRS unveiled the 2026 The Infinite Dial, presented with support from SiriusXM Media. The Infinite Dial is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior, tracked annually since 1998. The study provides important benchmark measures for usage and behavior around streaming audio, podcasting, radio, smart audio, social media, and debuting this year, never-before-seen data on AI usage. Find the full presentation and webinar recording on our website.

Industry experts at Edison Research at SSRS are available to be featured in your next podcast, event, or media story. Email us at info@edisonresearch.com to talk to a member of our team today.

Edison Research is part of SSRS

The post More to the Spoken-Word Audio Story: Listening by Age appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

U.S. Podcast and Online Audio Consumption Reach Record Highs; Generative AI Being Adopted in Massive Numbers  

The Infinite Dial® 2026 from Edison Research at SSRS Reveals Milestone Numbers Across Digital Media  

Download The Infinite Dial® 2026 Presentation >> 

U.S. podcast and online audio consumption have reached all-time highs, according to The Infinite Dial® 2026, released by Edison Research at SSRS with support from SiriusXM Media. 

Presented by Megan Lazovick, Vice President of Edison Research at SSRS, with James Cridland, Editor of Podnews, the study provides critical insights into digital media behaviors, and, debuting this year, generative AI adoption among American consumers. 

Key Findings from The Infinite Dial® 2026: 

Online Audio Reaches an All-Time High 

• 81% of Americans age 12+ (233 million) listened to online audio in the last month, and 76% (219 million) listened in the last week 

• Americans age 55+ are driving the most recent increases. Monthly online audio listening among this group jumped from 52% in 2024 to 70% in 2026, a gain of nearly 20 percentage points in just two years 

Podcast Consumption Sets New Records 

• 80% of Americans age 12+ (230 million) have ever listened to or watched a podcast, an all-time high 

• 58% of Americans age 12+ (167 million) have consumed a podcast in the last month, also an all-time high; 68% of 35-54-year-olds have consumed a podcast in the last month, making podcasting a powerful vehicle for reaching one of advertising’s most valued demographics 

• 45% of Americans age 12+ (130 million) have consumed a podcast in the last week – yet another all-time high for podcast consumption 

• Among Americans age 12+, 57% have both listened to and watched a podcast 

“Video isn’t replacing podcast audio. It’s expanding the tent,” says Lazovick. “Whatever your feelings on video podcasts, the data is clear: this is a dual-format medium now.” 

Generative AI Being Adopted in Massive Numbers 

• 93% of Americans age 12+ are familiar with at least one generative AI brand — a level of awareness that podcasting has not yet achieved after more than 20 years of measurement 

• 57% of Americans age 12+ have ever used a generative AI assistant, a milestone that took podcasting 16 years to reach 

• AI users are significantly more engaged across digital media; 87% listened to online audio in the last week compared to 61% of non-users, and more than half of AI users are weekly podcast consumers, versus roughly one-third of AI non-users 

For those tracking AI adoption in real time, Edison Research at SSRS has launched AI User Metrics, a new ongoing subscription product that surveys Americans 18+ twice monthly using the SSRS Opinion Panel. Among its early findings: awareness of Claude AI from Anthropic increased by 58% between early February and mid-March 2026. 

Other Key Findings:

• Social media platform preference varies sharply by age. TikTok is now the most-used social media platform among Americans ages 12-34, preferred by 29% of that group. Facebook is used most often by 40% of social media users and is dominant among those 55 and older. X skews male and ages 35-54, while Snapchat’s audience is overwhelmingly under 35 
• Nine in ten Americans age 12+ have ever used YouTube; 84% use YouTube monthly and 78% use YouTube weekly 

“The Infinite Dial® remains one of the most trusted, enduring studies of audio and media behavior.” says Keri Degroote, SVP, Sales Research & Analytics at SiriusXM Media. “The long-running dataset delivers invaluable insight into how audiences evolve over time, and we’re proud for SiriusXM Media to support research that helps shape the future of audio.”   

How the Study Was Conducted 

In January 2026, Edison Research conducted a national survey of 2,050 individuals age 12 and older. Approximately half were drawn from the SSRS Opinion Panel, recruited through probability sampling methods including random-digit dialing and address-based sampling. The sample was weighted to represent the U.S. 12+ population according to census data. 

About the Infinite Dial®

The Infinite Dial® is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior, tracked annually since 1998. The study provides important benchmark measures around usage and behavior around streaming audio, podcasting, radio, smart audio, social media, and more. Annual results and trending data from The Infinite Dial® are relied upon by its audience of content producers, media companies, agencies, and the financial community. 

About Edison Research at SSRS

Edison Research conducts survey research and provides strategic information to a broad array of clients worldwide, having conducted research in 66 countries. Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial® series has been the survey of record for digital audio, social media, podcasting, smart speakers, and other media-related technologies since 1998. Share of Ear® is the only single-source measure of all audio in the U.S. Edison Research is the leading podcast research company in the world, producing the only survey-based data on podcast listening in the U.S., Edison Podcast Metrics, and has conducted research for many companies in the space. Edison Research is part of SSRS, a full-service market and survey research firm with groundbreaking solutions including: the SSRS Opinion Panel, Encipher®, SSRS Virtual Insights, the SSRS Text Message panel, and more. 

About SiriusXM Media  

SiriusXM Media brings advertisers closer to the stories and music that listeners love, creating deep connections between fans and brands. The gateway for marketers to the largest digital audio advertising ecosystem in North America, SiriusXM Media reaches 170 million monthly listeners across SiriusXM, Pandora, and extensive Streaming and Podcast Networks. As the longtime leaders in audio advertising, only SiriusXM Media delivers audiences tailored brand experiences courtesy of sonic creative agency Studio Resonate, while making it easy for every marketer to produce, plan, buy, and measure across its entire audio universe, with innovative ad tech solutions powered by AdsWizz. For more information, please go to: https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/. 

The post The Infinite Dial® 2026 appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

We love a good case study, and if you are lucky enough to be attending SXSW this week, you can visit SkyBox to find a Nielsen representative and see a live demo of the software and data behind the case study below.

For the rest of us, let’s talk about a real-life example in NMI from a major pharmaceutical advertiser, and how integrating podcasts into their traditional media plan increased reach for no additional dollars. Using data from Nielsen Podcast Fusion powered by Edison Podcast Metrics, we analyzed a sample media plan for a leading pharmaceutical brand to demonstrate how moving small percentages of a budget can yield outsized results in audience reach.
In the original buy targeting adults 18-54, 100% of the budget was allocated to traditional television, with 87% to broadcast and 13% to Cable. This achieved a reach of 39%.

By shifting only 5% of the total spend away from the usual go-to television outlets, and into podcasts, reach increased significantly. Reach among those ages 18-54 went from 39% in the old campaign to 55% in the new campaign, a lift of 41%. Note that this is shifting dollars, not adding dollars. The brand reached 26 million additional people without increasing the advertising budget.

Nielsen Media Impact’s Podcast Fusion is the first planning tool that helps users make smarter choices in multi-media campaigns and illustrates how a modest reallocation of the budget can fundamentally change the campaign’s efficiency.

Email us at info@edisonresearch.com for more information about a live demo at SXSW or a virtual demo anytime.

Tomorrow!
The Infinite Dial 2026 from Edison Research with SiriusXM Media

The 28^th year of Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial is being presented with support from SiriusXM Media tomorrow, March 12^th at 2pm ET. It’s certainly not too late to register, and we hope you will join us.

The Infinite Dial is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior, tracked annually since 1998. The study provides important benchmark measures for usage and behavior around streaming audio, podcasting, radio, smart audio, social media, and debuting this year, never-before-seen data on AI usage. 

Findings will be unveiled by Megan Lazovick, Vice President of Edison Research at SSRS, alongside special guest, James Cridland, Editor of Podnews. With 35 years in the audio business, Cridland will offer unique analysis into the numbers and global context. Together, they will provide attendees with expert insights on the latest digital audio consumption trends and their implications for the industry.

Book an expert from Edison Research for your podcast, event, or other media outlet. Email us at info@edisonresearch.com.

Edison Research is part of SSRS

The post Reallocating Ad Dollars to Podcasts Can Deliver 41% Growth in Reach appeared first on Edison Research at SSRS.

With AI regularly discussed as the most consequential innovation in a generation, it is important that we have good data to understand who is using it and how. That is why, this week, we are announcing a new syndicated research service from Edison Research at SSRS: AI User Metrics. Leveraging the SSRS Opinion Panel, a probability-based survey of the highest quality, AI User Metrics tracks user adoption across the major AI platforms.

Our inaugural release shows that Americans are using this new technology in remarkable numbers. As of February 2026, fully 52% of Americans say they have used at least one of the major AI platforms in the last week, with many reporting use of more than one. Not only does AI User Metrics capture overall usage of AI chatbots, subscribers also have access to weekly usage rates of specific AI platforms, ranging from ChatGPT to Claude to DeepSeek.  

AI User Metrics updates twice each month and captures usage across more than 100 demographic and psychographic variables. The research also captures whether usage was for personal or business use. Learn more about AI User Metrics  here.  

Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial 2026 to be presented March 12

Registration is now open! We hope you will join us for the 28th year of Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial. With support from SiriusXM Media, we will present The Infinite Dial 2026 in a webinar on Thursday, March 12 at 2pm ET.  

The Infinite Dial is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior, tracked annually since 1998. The study provides important benchmark measures for usage and behavior around streaming audio, podcasting, radio, smart audio, social media, and debuting this year, never-before-seen data on AI usage. 
Findings will be unveiled by Megan Lazovick, Vice President of Edison Research at SSRS, alongside special guest, James Cridland, Editor of Podnews. With 35 years in the audio business, Cridland will offer unique analysis into the numbers and global context. Together, they will provide attendees with expert insights on the latest digital audio consumption trends and their implications for the industry.  

The Top 25 Podcasts in the UK

We are pleased to announce the Top 25 Podcasts in the UK from Edison Podcast Metrics for Q4 2025 based on reach among weekly podcast listeners ages 15+.  While subscribers to Edison Podcast Metrics UK receive information on hundreds of podcasts, the Top 25 Podcast ranker is published quarterly. 

The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, and The Rest Is Politics top the list, as they did in Q3 2025. The top four shows remain in the same rank order as Q3, with other rank changes in the Top 10 noted below parenthetically.  

1. The Joe Rogan Experience   
2. The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett    
3. The Rest Is Politics 
4. The Rest Is History     
5. The Peter Crouch Podcast (+1 rank position since Q3 2025) 
6. The Rest Is Football (-1 rank position since Q3 2025) 
7. Newscast 
8. Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster (+1 rank position since Q3 2025) 
9. Sh**ged Married Annoyed (+2 rank positions since Q3 2025) 
10. Crime Junkie (+2 rank positions since Q3 2025) 

 Click here for the Top 25 Podcasts in the UK for Q4 2025 

Edison Research is part of SSRS

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The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett,  
and The Rest Is Politics remain in the top three spots 

Glen Mills, PA USA (March 3, 2026) Edison Research announces the Top 25 Podcasts in the UK from Edison Podcast Metrics based on reach for the fourth quarter of 2025 among weekly podcast listeners ages 15+.  

The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, and The Rest Is Politics top the list, as they did in Q3 2025. The top four shows remain in the same rank order as Q3, with other rank changes in the Top 10 noted below parenthetically. The full list of Top 25 podcasts is below.

1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett 
3. The Rest Is Politics
4. The Rest Is History
5. The Peter Crouch Podcast (+1 rank position since Q3 2025)
6. The Rest Is Football (-1 rank position since Q3 2025)
7. Newscast
8. Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster (+1 rank position since Q3 2025)
9. Sh**ged Married Annoyed (+2 rank position since Q3 2025)
10. Crime Junkie (+2 rank position since Q3 2025)

Happy Diamond Anniversary!  The Archers is going into its 75^th season on BBC.  First broadcast as a radio soap opera on January 1, 1951, the series has evolved over 75 years and continues to reflect contemporary rural life in England.  The podcast show climbed 10 positions on our ranker since Q3 2025.

Notable moves: Stick to Football soared 22 positions and is this quarter’s biggest gainer. The podcast extended their sponsorship deal with Skybet over the Summer.

 RedHanded is at a record high.  The podcast breaks into the Top 20 for the first time since landing in the top 25 in Q3 2025.

About Edison Podcast Metrics 

Edison Podcast Metrics is unique in that it is not dependent on podcast download data and does not require podcast networks to opt into its service. At least 2,000 weekly podcast consumers in the UK are surveyed each quarter, and listening behavior is collected regardless of listening platform. The same methodology is being employed in the UK as is used in the U.S.   

Data from Edison Podcast Metrics UK provides show-level information on the top podcasts in the UK. Subscribers can analyze demographics, psychographics, and purchase-behavior information of weekly podcast listeners. The first Top Podcast Shows ranker in the U.S. was released by Edison Research in November 2019; the company has been tracking podcast consumption in the aggregate since 2006.  

For more information on how to become a subscriber to the full datasets, please contact info@edisonresearch.com. 

About Edison Research

Edison Research conducts survey research and provides strategic information to a broad array of clients worldwide, having conducted research in 66 countries. Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial® series has been the survey of record for digital audio, social media, podcasting, smart speakers, and other media-related technologies since 1998. The company’s Share of Ear® survey is the only single-source measure of all audio in the U.S. Edison Research is the leading podcast research company in the world, producing the only survey-based data on podcast listening in the U.S, Edison Podcast Metrics, and has conducted research for many companies in the space. Edison Research is part of SSRS.

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