RON BURGUNDY SHOWS THAT NEW iHeartRadio “PODCAST TOP 100” CHART IS BOGUS

Perhaps you are aware that iHeartRadio now publishes a top podcasts chart [link] that portrays itself as a weekly ranking of the nation’s favorite podcasts. 

But it is not what it appears to be. It is a slight-of-hand promotional gimmick that further muddies the water about the already confusing podcast industry.

iHeart’s new Top 100 chart only adds to the confusion.  It is simply not believable. 

Just look at The Ron Burgundy Podcast, the #1 show on the July 1, 2019, iHeart chart.

iHeart has a lot riding on Ron Burgundy.  The company has invested heavily in the show in an attempt to have a mega-hit to verify their dominance in the industry. But the Burgundy show is “all show and no go.”

The Ron Burgundy Podcast’s appearance of success is so important to iHeartRadio that CEO Bob Pittman, in a statement about the company’s financial restructuring after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, credited it for “…our position as the No. 1 commercial podcaster globally — by a strong margin.”

Though The Ron Burgundy Podcast is number one on the iHeart chart, it isn’t even listed on other major charts. Burgundy is not even listed in Podtrac’s Top 20 Podcasts, Stitcher’s Top 100 [link], Podbay’s Top 100 [link] or iTunes Top 100 [link].

One of the biggest problems facing podcasting is the lack of credible information about the size of the podcast audience. Podtrac’s monthly charts – one for podcast publishers and the other for individual shows – have become the de facto industry standard but many observers criticize Podtrac’s methodology and conclusions.

Spark News publishes Podtrac’s charts because there seems to be a consensus of industry trade publications that the rankings are believable.

It appears that iHeart’s “Podcasts Top 100” is slanted to promote iHeart products and downplay podcasts from other sources such as public radio.

On iHeart’s 7/1/19 chart, 7 of the top 20 podcasts (35%) belong to iHeart. The #1 show on the Podtrac chart, The Daily, is #66 on the iHeart chart. (The Daily is in the top twenty on all the other charts we checked.)

NPR and other public media shows receive the same treatment. For example, The Moth is #64 on the iHeart chart, TED Talks is #47, In the Dark is #77, Hidden Brain is #83 and Up First is #84. This American Life, Radiolab and How I Built This don’t even appear in iHeart’s top 100. This is not a reflection of reality.

We inquired with iHeart about the methodology used to determine their Podcast Top 100 and received this reply from Eliza (no last name):

“Unfortunately, this is not information that iHeartRadio is at liberty to provide to you.”

This isn’t the first time that iHeart has put self-promotion above the truth. Last January [link] Spark News reported that the big winner at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards was iHeartRadio. 

Though more than a dozen public media shows were nominated in 22 categories, none won an award. However, iHeart shows won five categories. A list of the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards winners is here.