The rapid ascension of conservative media stars into podcasting has resulted in a change in who podcast listeners are. Edison Research says while Republicans made up less than a quarter (23%) of podcast listeners in 2019, the latest data shows that three-in-ten podcast listeners identify with the GOP. The number of those who identify as Democrats has also slipped three points to 37% during that same period. Edison says independents make up about one in four (26%) podcast listeners.
For years, the profile of a podcast listener was about who was more affluent, had higher educational attainment, and leaned left politically compared to the overall U.S. population. Edison says in a blog post that is not entirely changed, but an evolution of who is listening to podcasts is underway.
“While a higher percentage of the overall weekly listening audience now identifies as Republican, many individual shows still have a listener base that is predominately left-leaning. The overall audience shift, however, is an inevitable part of the continued adoption of podcast listening in America,” says Edison. “As the pool expands, it will be more and more representative of the population, a healthy signal that podcast listening growth continues.”
The changing composition of podcast listeners was reflected in Edison Research’s quarterly ranking of the most listened-to shows during the fourth quarter. Theo Von, a supporter of President Trump, saw his show This Past Weekend rise three spots to No. 5. The Charlie Kirk Show broke into the ranker at No. 49, leveraging Kirk’s influence as the founder of Turning Point USA. There was also a debut for Candace, the podcast hosted by conservative commentator Candace Owens, which debuted at No. 45 on Edison’s ranker.
Edison said other conservative talk podcasts also continued to show solid results in Q4. The Ben Shapiro Show climbs to No. 14, up from No. 22 during Q3. And The Megyn Kelly Show moved up from No. 50 to No. 27. Meanwhile, Daily Wire’s The Matt Walsh Show, which was last in the Top 50 in the third quarter of 2023, re-entered the ranker at No. 45.