Edison Research Reveals Top 10 Podcasts Among U.S. Women

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, March 20, 2024 | 3:50pm CT

Edison Research

To commemorate Women's History Month, Edison Research's insights this week is on podcast listening among U.S. women, and the women podcast hosts who are making history. According to The Infinite Dial 2023, 27% of women in the U.S. ages 12 and over have listened to a podcast in the last week. The list below ranks the Top 10 Podcasts in the U.S. based on the number of women weekly podcast listeners for Q4 2023 from Edison Podcast Metrics.

The podcast with the largest weekly reach of women weekly podcast listeners ages 13 and over in the U.S. is the true crime podcast "Crime Junkie" hosted by Ashley Flowers with Brit Prawat, and launched in December of 2017. "Crime Junkie" consistently ranks at the top of the podcast charts quarter after quarter, and currently sits at the #2 spot among all weekly podcast listeners in the U.S. "The Joe Rogan Experience," the top podcast in the U.S. overall, is #2 among U.S. women, and true crime pod Dateline NBC ranks #3.

Podcasts with women hosts take five of the top 10 spots, including "Crime Junkie," "The Daily with Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise," "Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper," "Morbid with Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley" and "My Favorite Murder" with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. And Dateline NBC's 20-year veteran Andrea Canning is part of the team of correspondents on the true crime pod. All of these podcasts also have tremendous reach with the overall podcast audience, as seen in Edison Research's most recent Top 50 Podcasts in the U.S. for Q4 2023.

The sports-focused and NFL player-hosted "New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce" would seem to be an unusual contender for the women's top 10 list but its place in the women's ranking is notably attributed to the influence of Taylor Swift and the loyalty of her primarily female fanbase of Swifties. Our data shows how the "Taylor Swift effect" caused a massive increase in listeners and a shift to a female demographic. This is a prime example of how women can significantly shape the trajectory of podcasts, even in male-dominated genres like sports.

Women within the podcasting industry have influence not only as creators, but also as active listeners who drive engagement across content categories.