Australians’ love affair with podcast listening continues to deepen, while listeners flocked back to radio podcasts, and a new title took the No 1 podcast position, the January Australian Podcast Ranker has revealed. Australians downloaded 90.3 million podcasts in January, up 33% from January 2023’s 67.8 million, and up 11% from 81.2 million downloads in December 2023. 

The Australian Podcast Ranker, which was launched in 2019 by Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) and Triton Digital, continues to expand its catalogue of podcasts and producers, with eight new publishers, including  ABC, added in 2023.

The Shameless podcast produced by Shameless Media was the podcast ranked highest for listeners for the month, with 516,000 listeners, up three places from December 2023.The most downloaded podcast episode was “Buckle up, it’s a big one,” published 17 January.

In January, people returned to listening to podcasts produced by breakfast radio shows back from the Summer break, including the Kyle & Jackie O Show, up 12 places to number six, Ben Fordham Live, up 33 places to 42 and The Marty Sheargold Show, up 89 places to 53.

“Today is Valentine’s Day, and one relationship that we know will last the distance is our collective affection for podcasts,” said Ford Ennals, Chief Executive Officer of CRA.

“A great example of this is the uplifting and emotional stories shared in the Darling, Shine!” podcast, which this month rocketed 18 places to 17, as the audience connected strongly with the story reveals by the hosts Chloe Fisher and Ellidy Pullin.”

“Australians remain loyal to the podcasts they love – Hamish & Andy was the fifth most popular podcast in January, although no new episodes were released during the month – and we are quick to embrace great content and new shows, like the 12 new podcasts which debuted in the top 200 in the month, including six from ARN/iHeart, three from ABC, two from LiSTNR and one from SBS.”

Summer sports podcasts performed strongly. The ABC Tennis Podcast was the highest ranked new podcast, debuting at 61, with The Grade Cricketer up 20 spots to 29.    

The Australian Podcast Ranker Top Publishers category expanded from 15 to 20 publishers in January, with Clubby Sport at 19 and Equity Mates Media at 20 joining the highest ranked producer line-up for the first time.

The top three publishers by listeners in January were ARN/iHeart, LiSTNR and ABC.

“Australian listeners are dedicated to home grown as well as the best of international content. Four out of the five most listened to podcasts in January were produced locally,” Mr Ennals said.

“The Australian Podcast Ranker continues to showcase a vibrant picture of the podcast industry in Australia,” said Richard Palmer, VP of Market Development and Strategy, APAC, Triton Digital. 

“Fueled by the launch of new titles, and the return of popular radio shows, listeners are showing a strong appetite for fresh and familiar voices.

“We’re excited to see that the detailed audience insights Triton Digital provide are helping producers and broadcasters tailor their content to an increasingly engaged and discerning audience in a dynamic podcast landscape.”  

The top five most popular podcast genres in January were, in order, Society and Culture, True Crime, News, Comedy and Sports.

About the Australian Podcast Ranker

The Australian Podcast Ranker is a monthly snapshot of the top 200 podcasts listened to by Australians, the top 200 Australian podcasts, the 20 biggest publishers and the 20 most successful podcast sales representatives.

The Australian Podcast Ranker is an industry initiative commissioned by CRA and published by Triton Digital. Results comply with IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines. Annual Insights are based on results from January to December. The January 2024 Australian Podcast Ranker is available here.