The latest podcast, publisher, and, for the first time, advertiser rankings are in for May 2025. These rankers highlight a month of bold shakeups and standout movement across the board. From top-performing shows and rising publishers to surging ad spenders, the numbers reflect ongoing momentum, multi-format dominance, and evolving advertiser strategies.

Podcast Show Highlights:

• Crime Junkie takes #1 in audio reach with ~8.2M listeners, topping The Joe Rogan Experience (~5.5M).
• Rotten Mango keeps its crown with most downloads per episode with ~3.8M, beating JRE (~2.7M).
• Murder, Mystery & Makeup surges +18%, entering the Top 5 in downloads & views per episode with ~2.2M—a major leap that places it ahead of several long-time chart fixtures.
• The MeidasTouch Podcast (54.4M) and The Joe Rogan Experience (52.5M) retain their hold as the top two shows by monthly downloads and views.

Publisher Highlights:

• Spotify stays on top with 64.0M in reach and 252.9M monthly downloads and views, despite a 1% dip.
• Audioboom rises to #2 with 142.2M downloads, ahead of Wondery and SXM Media.
• MeidasTouch drops to #4 after a 22% decline, but still logs 124.4M monthly downloads and views.
• Acast grows +11% in reach (34.2M), while QCode enters the top 10 with 59.2M (+30%).

Advertiser Highlights:

• BetterHelp holds the top spot in estimated spend with $6.7M, spanning 706 shows and achieving a 90% host-read rate, affirming its continued podcast-first strategy.
• Auto brands, Hyundai enters at #10 with $3.9M (+290%), while Toyota drops 15% but holds strong at #3.
• UberEats rockets into the Top 10 with a +709.1% increase, spending $4.3M, despite having one of the lowest host-read rates (23%).

These rankings reflect a maturing podcast ecosystem where top players continue to innovate, and new voices rise fast—driven by strategic investments, shifting audience behavior, and the continued trust in host-read advertising.

About Podscribe

Podscribe is the leader in pixel-based attribution, incrementality, and verification for podcast, streaming, CTV, and other hard-to-measure media channels. We help advertisers, agencies, and publishers measure true campaign impact, optimize performance, and scale with confidence—backed by real-time, household-level data.

Learn more at www.podscribe.com or contact us at adops@podscribe.com.