NPR, iHeart Lead October Podtrac Rankings

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, November 6, 2025 | 3:12pm CT

Podtrac

Podtrac has released its October 2025 podcast industry rankings, with NPR and iHeartMedia networks continuing to dominate the U.S. podcast landscape while several individual shows saw notable audience gains.

NPR News Now, The Daily from The New York Times, and Up First from NPR retained their top three positions for U.S. Unique Monthly Audience, reflecting continued strength in daily news consumption. The Fox News Hourly Update and Dateline NBC rounded out the top five.

Among the biggest movers this month, The Shawn Ryan Show (Cumulus Podcast Network) climbed one spot to No. 6, while Pardon My Take (Barstool Sports) also rose one place to No. 7. The Ben Shapiro Show (DailyWire) advanced two positions to No. 8, and On Purpose with Jay Shetty (iHeartPodcasts) made one of the largest jumps, up four spots to No. 9. Meanwhile, The Charlie Kirk Show dropped five places to No. 11.

On the publisher side, iHeart Audience Network maintained its lead with 70.6 million U.S. unique monthly listeners and 378 million streams and downloads, followed by iHeartPodcasts (33.6 million), Acast (21.3 million), and NPR Sales Network (21.1 million). Libsyn rounded out the top five with 20.6 million.

Podtrac noted that 14 of the ranked U.S. publishers saw increases in unique monthly audiences compared to September, while 16 reported gains in U.S. downloads. Globally, five of the top networks were up in total downloads, streams, and views.