Podtrac Releases December 2025 Podcast Rankings

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, January 8, 2026 | 3:28pm CT

Podtrac

Podtrac has released its Top U.S. and Global Podcast Publishers & Networks rankings, along with its Top U.S. Podcasts list for December 2025, offering a snapshot of audience and download performance heading into the end of the year.

In the U.S. Publishers & Networks rankings, iHeart Audience Network retained its position at No. 1, leading the list with more than 60.5 million U.S. unique monthly listeners and nearly 340 million downloads and streams for the month. iHeartPodcasts followed at No. 2, while Acast, NPR Sales Network, and Libsyn rounded out the top five.

Podtrac reported that five U.S. ranking participants posted month-to-month gains in U.S. Unique Monthly Audience (UMA) in December, while eleven publishers and networks saw increases in U.S. downloads compared to November. On the global side, three ranking participants grew their UMA month over month, and four posted gains in U.S. downloads.

The December Top U.S. Podcasts ranking continued to be led by NPR titles, with NPR News Now holding the No. 1 spot, followed by The Daily from The New York Times and Up First from NPR. Other notable entries in the top ten included Dateline NBC, Fox News Hourly Update, Pardon My Take, and This American Life. Several shows posted positive rank movement in December, reflecting month-to-month audience gains.

Podtrac noted that the rankings are based on publishers and podcasts that participated in Podtrac measurement for the full month of December 2025. The company provides podcast measurement and audience insights used by publishers, advertisers, and agencies across the industry.