Podtrac say downloads held steady for a second consecutive week last week. But among the publishers and shows it measures, downloads were still up a significant 55% versus the corresponding period last year.
As has been the case several times this summer, the Health & Fitness category was the week’s big winner. It tied with Society & Culture for the best week-to-week increase in downloads – they were up seven percent – ​​but it also had the strongest growth year-over-year with a 166% increase in downloads.
Which other genres were up versus last year? All of them. Gains were also recorded for Comedy (+91%), True Crime (+72%), Sports (+61%), History (+57%), Society & Culture (+53%), Business (+47%), News (+38%), Science (+27%), and Arts (+8%).
Podtrac earlier reported that the average top 20 publishers had a three percent month-over-month decrease in their US unique monthly audience last month. But compared to a year earlier, July 2022’s unique reach for the top 20 publishers was up seven percent versus July 2021.
In terms of downloads, Podtrac says global downloads for the top 20 publishers overall increased three percent month-over-month during July. They were also up seven percent compared to the download numbers from a year earlier.
Among the publishers it measures, Podtrac says iHeartMedia had the most listeners and downloads, followed by Wondery, NPR, the New York Times, and NBC News.