Triton Q4 Ranker Shows Genre, Sports Gains

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, February 27, 2026 | 4:59am CT

Triton Digital

Triton Digital has released its Q4 2025 U.S. Podcast Ranker, the third installment in its quarterly reporting series launched in August 2025, highlighting how listening patterns shifted during the final months of the year.

The report shows podcast consumption remained strong through holiday travel, peak sports seasons and year-end reflection, with immersive storytelling and sports content driving notable engagement gains.

"Podcasting has become appointment media in moments that matter, from sports seasons and cultural milestones to end-of-year reflection and planning," said Daryl Battaglia, SVP, Measurement Products & Strategy at Triton Digital. He added that Q4 listening reflected sustained, intentional engagement tied to real-world behaviors, offering marketers insight into when audiences are most receptive.

Top Categories Hold Steady

The top podcast categories by reach were unchanged from Q3:

• Comedy (40.9%)
• News (26.7%)
• Society & Culture (23.0%)

However, several genres posted significant quarter-over-quarter growth:

• True Crime: up 23% (17.2% in Q4 vs. 14.0% in Q3)
• History: up 30% (4.8% vs. 3.7%)
• Fiction: up 30% (3.0% vs. 2.3%)

Triton said the gains in true crime, fiction and history reflect audiences leaning into long-form storytelling during travel and downtime.

Breakout Shows in the Top 50

Among the biggest movers into the Top 50 in Q4:

• Nightcap (Sports) surged 113 spots to #49
• Fresh Air (Arts) climbed 49 spots to #41
• Last Podcast On The Left (True Crime) jumped 46 spots to #47
• Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce (Society & Culture) rose 41 spots to #34
• Shawn Ryan Show (Society & Culture) moved up 38 spots to #27
• The Ramsey Show (Business) advanced 36 spots to #25

Good Hang with Amy Poehler continued its steady climb, rising from #70 in Q2 to #36 in Q4.

Download Leaders

Based on server-side measurement for January and including only sales networks directly measured by Triton, the top sales networks by average weekly downloads were:

1. iHeart Audience Network
2. Audacy Podcast Network
3. Audioboom

Top podcasts by average weekly downloads:

1. Stuff You Should Know (iHeart Audience Network)
2. 48 Hours (Audacy Podcast Network)
3. My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark (iHeart Audience Network)

Sports and Multicultural Insights

Sports podcasts saw strong engagement in Q4, aligning with the NFL playoff race, college football championships and the start of the NBA season. Notable risers included The Pat McAfee Show, Nightcap, The Dale Jr. Download, Fantasy Football Today and Jim Cornette Experience.

The report also highlighted distinct listening patterns across multicultural audiences. Black/African American listeners indexed higher for Music (37.6%), Sports (21.9%) and Religion & Spirituality (18.9%). Hispanic listeners showed strong affinity for Fiction (31.5%), Education (30.1%) and Kids & Family (28.5%).

Intent-Driven Listening

Triton's Q4 data pointed to strong connections between podcast consumption and real-world intent. Business travel intenders leaned toward Technology, Business, Science, Sports and History programming, while leisure travel intenders gravitated to Business, Sports, Science, News and Education. Purchase-oriented segments, including life insurance and auto intenders, showed heavy engagement across Kids & Family, Business, Music, Sports and Comedy.

The U.S. Podcast Ranker blends audience reach and behavioral data from Demos+, developed in collaboration with Signal Hill Insights, alongside Triton's 2025 U.S. Podcast Report, offering advertisers and publishers additional insight into evolving audience habits heading into 2026.

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