How To See How Many Listeners A Podcast Has: Useful Tips in 2024

From avid listeners to potential guests and advertisers, many people want to know how to see how many listeners a podcast has for a variety of reasons.

So we decided to explore whether or not finding this number is possible, specifics for determining podcast listener numbers, and tools to help you get it done below.

Continue reading to learn more.

Why It’s Difficult to Find Statistics for Podcast Listeners

It’s easy to understand why podcasts continue to grow in popularity. They can be a great source of free information, attracting lots of listeners and thus advertising opportunities for related companies.

But only the podcaster and the publishing platform themselves know their podcast’s exact number of listeners.

However, getting a rough idea of how many total listeners a specific podcast has is possible.

And so, with this in mind, let’s discuss methods for making your best guess at listener numbers.

How to See How Many Listeners a Podcast Has

And so, even though you can’t determine how many subscribers a podcast has, there are several methods for making an educated guess.

Check the Reviews

In today’s algorithm-centric world, reviews play a major role in a podcast’s performance. Listener feedback helps podcasters improve their content and better grow their podcast’s popularity.

This means that the number of podcast reviews can help you assume how many downloads it might have.

Typically, only a small percentage of consumers will leave a review (with around 5-10% of online consumers generally willing to leave a review for something). If a podcast has many reviews, you can assume that a larger number of people listen to the show.

So, an assumption can be made that the higher the number of reviews a podcast has, the higher the number of listeners.

However, you’ll want to make sure you distinguish between negative and positive reviews.

A podcast could have a large number of reviews, but if they’re mainly negative reviews, those reviews probably don’t translate into a larger audience size.

Look at the Chart Ratings

Chart ratings in each of the podcasts apps are also a great way to determine how many listeners a podcast has.

Whether you prefer to listen on Apple or Spotify, these podcast apps have their own rankings. You can browse each platform to see the top-ranking podcast shows and episodes.

You can even sort your search results by category.

Apple Podcasts Chart Rankings

This example is from Apple Podcasts:

Here’s how to view the top shows on Apple Podcasts:

1. After launching the Apple Podcasts app, go to the “Browse” tab.
2. Scroll until you see the section titled “Top Shows.”
3. The app will show you the top podcasts across all categories by default. You can click the “All Categories” tab in the upper right-hand corner to change the category. Options include Business, News, Society & Culture, and many more.

While this method doesn’t tell you how many listeners a podcast has, it gives you insight into its overall popularity in a niche.

If a podcast is ranking at the top of the charts, you can assume that the podcast’s listeners numbers are relatively high.

Spotify Podcast Stats

Here’s what it looks like for Spotify Podcasts:

Here’s how to view the podcast chart rankings for Spotify:

1. After launching the Spotify app, go to the “Search” tab at the bottom of the screen.
2. Scroll until you see the “Categories” section.
3. Tap “Podcast charts.”
4. This will give you a variety of options to choose from. Options include top podcasts, top episodes, top comedy, and so many more. You can also view chart rankings by country and many more categories.

What’s unique about the Spotify rankings is that it includes a little arrow to show whether the podcast has recently moved up or down in the chart.

This helps give you an idea of the podcast’s performance, including if it’s growing or dropping.

However, not all podcasts will be included in the chart rankings. If a podcast isn’t popular enough, then it won’t be included in the top 200 podcasts. This means that if you’re trying to determine podcast download numbers for a smaller podcast, this method probably won’t work for you.

Social Media Following

The podcast’s social media presence can provide valuable insights for determining listenership.

While there is no exact correlation, how many followers a podcast has can help you make an informed guess about the show’s popularity.

For example, searching for The Marketing Millennials on Instagram and seeing how many followers they have can potentially tell you how popular their podcast is.

When making an informed guess about how many listeners a podcast has based on their social media accounts, you want to go beyond just looking at follower count. Unfortunately, bots, fake accounts, and buying followers are all too common practices for some people on social media.

So, you’ll want to gauge the authenticity of their following by looking at their engagement.

The number of likes and comments on each post can provide valuable insights into their potential engagement. If they have a large following but a low number of likes and comments on their posts, you can assume that their audience is fabricated or just not very interested in their content.

Use your best judgment when determining the validity of a podcast’s popularity on social media though.

Also, not every podcast has its own social media account. Some podcast hosts just post about their podcasts from their personal accounts instead of creating separate ones for the show itself.

Additionally, sometimes the podcast host can be more popular than the podcast itself.

But, most of the time, an engaged following across multiple social media platforms can also indicate its popularity on podcast apps.

Google Trends

Looking at various internet sources is a great way to see how many listeners a podcast might have. In addition to analyzing the podcast’s social media accounts and rankings, you could also consider their place in Google Trends.

Google Trends shows users the search results for various trending keywords.

You can view results in a variety of ways, including:

• What’s trending now
• Daily search trends
• Realtime search trends
• Results for specific countries
• Explore specific keywords of your choosing
• Suggested search queries and topics that are trending

This gives you many insights into specific topics, both in the podcast space and outside of it. You can then tailor your keyword and topic research to specific podcasts.

For example, simply putting the keyword “podcast” in the search bar yielded the below results for related topics:

This broad of a search gives you ideas for related topics and queries to the keyword “podcasts.” You could then make the assumption that these podcasts are rising in popularity or have maintained a high level of popularity.

Starting with this broad of a keyword gives you an idea of some of the most popular topics related to it. Then, you can be more specific with your search, naming other podcasters and even creating a specific podcast episode.

Now, when we search for a specific podcast, if the term has enough searches, it will show up with results.

While you won’t be able to see how many listeners a podcast has using this method, it will give you an idea of its popularity.

Ask Them Directly

When podcasting for business purposes, sometimes you need to create direct connections with other creators.

If you’ve been asked to be a guest on a podcast or want to sponsor one, you need to know the podcast’s reach. This will help you compare podcasts and determine which one is right for your sponsorship or guest appearance.

In these two scenarios, asking the podcast creators directly would be appropriate.

However, if you just want to know the podcast stats to satisfy your own curiosity, they may be less likely to share private information.

Third-Party Tools

There are third-party tools created specifically for trying to determine how many listeners a podcast has.

A few options include:

• Podchaser Pro: Podchaser Pro is a paid tool that tells you reach data for each podcast you see when scrolling through their platform. Podchaser has a large database for you to conduct research on. After finding the podcast you want to see data for, go to the “Insights” tab to see podcast reach per episode. This tool can help book podcast guests, pitch sponsors, and promoting the show.
• Rephonic: Rephonic has a database of more than 2.5 million shows, which means you’ll probably be able to find the podcast you’re looking for. The platform analyzes a variety of publicly available data points for each specific podcast to inform their stats. While this is still technically a highly informed guess based on various data points, it takes the hard work away from you. Rephonic does the lengthy research for you to easily make an informed decision.
• Chartable: Chartable is another program that will compile the information for you. It takes rankings and reviews for each Apple podcast and presents the information in a way that’s easy to understand. You can then make your own informed decision based on the research you do on their platform.

How to See Podcast Listener Numbers for Your Own Podcast

Podcasting is growing for a reason, and you want to see your own show continue to grow. To help you determine if you’re successfully reaching your target audience, we review below how to see podcast listener numbers for your own podcast for Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Spotify

Whether you’re a confident podcaster or still learning how to start a podcast on Spotify, knowing how to review your podcast plays will be important for your content’s growth.

Spotify is a fairly user-friendly platform. They make it easy for you to review your podcast analytics.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for accessing your podcast’s official data on Spotify:

1. Login to your account on Spotify for Podcasters.
2. From your main dashboard page, go to the podcast banner. Here you can access analytics about your podcast’s progress. These key metrics include the number of streams, listeners, and followers.

This incredibly useful tool can help you determine which of your episodes are landing with your target audience. Alternatively, if an episode didn’t perform well, it will help you determine how to create more engaging content in the future.

Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts also makes it easy for you to see how many listeners your podcast has and gain valuable insights about your podcast’s content.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for reviewing your podcast states for Apple Podcasts Connect:

1. Login to your Apple Podcasts Connect account.
2. Click on the “My Podcasts” tab.
3. Select your podcast.
4. Click the “Analytics” tab. This section will show you listenership data like the total number of plays your podcast has, average listen time, and the number of unique listeners your podcast has.

With Apple podcasts being one of the most popular platforms, it’s important to know how to access your podcast analytics. Knowing this information will help you understand listening behavior and grow your podcast.

Google Podcasts

If your podcast is also posted on Google Podcasts, you’ll want to know where to find detailed statistics for how many listeners you have.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for seeing how many listeners your podcast has on Google Podcasts:

1. Login to your Google Podcasts Manager account.
2. Your podcast data will be visible on the landing page after logging in.
3. Select the time period that you would like to see the download numbers for. Data options include number of plays and minutes played.

Reviewing the Google Analytics for your podcast can help you determine user interaction for your episodes and create better content moving forward.

Learning How to See How Many Listeners a Podcast Has

Even though there aren’t any exact methods, you now know how to see how many listeners a podcast has based on the best guess you can make.

Whether you’re using the information for business or personal purposes, it’s helpful to know where to conduct your research and come to your own conclusion.