Biggest Podcast Networks and Which One to Work With

The 10 Biggest Podcast Networks at a Glance

These are the ten networks with the most weekly US listeners in Edison Research's ranking for the second quarter of 2026, in that order. The last column is our verdict on who each one suits.

Count downloads instead and iHeartMedia comes first, with 67.3 million average weekly downloads on Triton Digital's September 2026 ranking. That ranking includes only networks that sign up to be measured, so it can't replace the list above.

Which Podcast Network Fits What You Need

Pick by goal, not by rank. Use the top three for national reach, a specialist for a specific audience, and an open network for placing your own show.

For National Reach, Start With iHeartMedia, Spotify or SiriusXM

These three sell ads on many of the most listened-to shows in the US, so one deal can cover the country. Choose iHeartMedia if you also want local markets: about half its podcast revenue in the second quarter of 2026 came from local sales teams, the company said on its earnings call. Our guide to the best podcast ad networks and advertising platforms compares minimums and formats when you're ready to buy.

For a Specific Audience, Pick the Network That Owns It

Go to the network built around the listeners you want. That means The New York Times or NPR for news, Red Seat Ventures for opinion and true crime, and Audacy for political talk and comedy. Their ad formats differ, so read the "Watch out for" line in each profile before you brief a campaign.

For Placing Your Own Show, Start With Acast or Audioboom

Acast and Audioboom sell ads for independent creators at scale, while the other big networks mostly sign hosts who already have large audiences, like Call Her Daddy at SiriusXM or Shawn Ryan at Daylight Media. If you host on Spotify, its Partner Program is the other open door. If your show is still small, start with the podcast networks that accept small shows, none of which sets a download minimum.

Spotify for the Largest Weekly Audience

Our take: The first call for a brand that wants the most listeners from one deal, and the only big network that publishes what it pays creators. Spotify sells ads on its own shows, The Ringer and licensed hits like The Joe Rogan Experience, which Spotify announced it had re-signed in October 2026.

• Best for: Brands buying national reach in one deal.
• Standout: Its Partner Program pays creators 50% of the revenue from ads Spotify sells into their episodes.
• Pricing: Custom quotes.
• Watch out for: Its reach counts only the shows it sells ads for, not everything played in the Spotify app.

SiriusXM for Premium Personality Shows

Our take: The strongest network for big-name hosts, and from fall 2026 the exclusive seller of YouTube's US audio ads. Its shows include Call Her Daddy and SmartLess, and SiriusXM Media became YouTube's exclusive US audio ad seller in April 2026.

• Best for: Brands that want star hosts plus audio on SiriusXM, Pandora and YouTube.
• Standout: Podcasts+, which SiriusXM says gives subscribers ad-free new episodes of more than 30 shows.
• Pricing: Custom quotes.
• Watch out for: Big shows leave. Fox announced in October 2025 that Crime Junkie's ad sales were moving from SiriusXM to its Red Seat Ventures.

iHeartMedia for National and Local Reach

Our take: The widest catalog of the ten, and the best pick when a campaign needs local markets as well as national reach. Its podcast revenue reached $162.1 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 20.7%, according to its SEC filing.

• Best for: National campaigns that also need local markets.
• Standout: About half its podcast revenue comes from local sales teams.
• Pricing: Custom quotes.
• Watch out for: Its ad network sells many shows iHeart doesn't make. Podtrac counts 32,741 shows in that network but only 931 made by iHeart, so ask whether a show is an iHeart original.

Red Seat Ventures for News, Opinion and True Crime

Our take: The specialist for news, opinion and true crime audiences, and the network that took Crime Junkie from SiriusXM. Fox bought Red Seat Ventures in February 2025, and it sells shows with hosts including Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan.

• Best for: Brands targeting news, opinion and true crime listeners.
• Standout: Crime Junkie, the second most listened-to US podcast in Edison's third-quarter 2026 ranking.
• Pricing: Custom quotes.
• Watch out for: The roster leans on political opinion hosts, so check each show against your brand guidelines.

The New York Times for Daily News Listeners

Our take: The best place for a brand that wants to sit beside daily news. The New York Times makes The Daily, a top-three US podcast in every quarter of 2026 so far in Edison's rankings, and it owns Serial Productions.

• Best for: Brands that want news and long-form narrative listeners.
• Standout: The Daily's reach, which only Joe Rogan and Crime Junkie top in the US.
• Pricing: Custom quotes.
• Watch out for: Older episodes sit behind a $6 a month paywall, Axios reported in 2024, so back-catalog ads reach fewer people.

Audioboom for Independent Shows That Want Ad Sales

Our take: The most practical big network for an independent show that wants ad revenue without building a sales team. Audioboom sells ads across creator shows through Showcase, a marketplace it says works with more than 2,000 brands, and it has sold Crooked Media's network ads since February 2026.

• Best for: Independent shows that want programmatic and network ad sales.
• Standout: Second only to iHeartMedia on Triton's September 2026 download ranking, at 15.5 million average weekly downloads.
• Pricing: Custom quotes for advertisers; creator terms not published.
• Watch out for: Selling a show's network ads isn't the same as selling its host reads. Crooked's own team keeps host reads on every show except Pod Save the UK.

Acast for Any Independent Creator

Our take: The most open of the ten, and the default choice for an independent show that wants a sales team. Acast says in its third-quarter 2026 report that it works with more than 140,000 creators and 4,000 advertisers, and in August 2026 it bought US creator network Backyard Ventures for $20 million.

• Best for: Independent creators, and advertisers buying audiences in several countries.
• Standout: One ad platform across more than 140,000 creators.
• Pricing: Custom quotes for advertisers; creator terms not published.
• Watch out for: The roster runs from tiny shows to big ones, so the network's size tells you little about any one show.

NPR for Public Radio's News Audience

Our take: The best route to public radio's news audience, as long as your message fits a sponsorship format. NPR's sponsorship arm, National Public Media, says the NPR network reaches 42 million people a week, and its top NPR podcasts include Up First and NPR News Now.

• Best for: Brands that want news and culture listeners.
• Standout: Since May 2026 it also sells sponsorship on member stations' podcasts.
• Pricing: Custom quotes through National Public Media.
• Watch out for: Messages follow NPR's underwriting guidelines, so a hard-sell script won't air as written.

Audacy for Political Talk and Comedy

Our take: A good fit for political talk and comedy, sold by a radio company's sales team. Audacy announced that it took over ad sales for the MeidasTouch Network on September 1, 2026, and it signed Smosh the same month.

• Best for: Brands targeting political talk and comedy audiences.
• Standout: MeidasTouch, second on Podtrac's September 2026 global ranking of networks.
• Pricing: Custom quotes.
• Watch out for: Most of MeidasTouch's weekly reach, 82% by Libsyn's count, comes from YouTube video, which an audio buy won't reach.

Daylight Media for Big Hosts Who Want to Keep Ownership

Our take: The strongest fit for a big independent host who wants a sales partner while keeping full ownership. Daylight Media launched in September 2025 and sells ads for The Shawn Ryan Show and The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart, and Bell Media invested in it in February 2026.

• Best for: Established hosts who want to keep their show.
• Standout: Shawn Ryan kept full ownership and creative control under his revenue-share deal.
• Pricing: Revenue share, negotiated per deal.
• Watch out for: It has the shortest track record of the ten.

What Our Database Shows About Network Size

In our podcast database, iHeartMedia has the most shows and NPR has the highest share of big ones.

Source: our podcast database, fetched November 2, 2026. Listeners are estimated monthly listeners.

NPR is built around big shows, while 82% of iHeartMedia's tracked shows draw under 50,000 listeners a month. For an open network like Acast, our count is a sample: Acast works with far more creators than we've tagged to it.

What to Do Before You Sign With Any Network

Confirm three things in writing: who sells the show's ads today, its measured downloads, and the creator split.

• Check who sells the show now: Ad sellers change: Crime Junkie moved in October 2025 and MeidasTouch in September 2026. Filter by podcast network in MillionPodcasts to see a network's current roster, with each show's estimated listeners and whether it accepts guests.
• Ask for measured downloads: Request show-level downloads measured to IAB Tech Lab guidelines, not just network reach.
• Get the split in writing: Only Spotify publishes its creator split. At the others it's negotiated show by show, so the number exists only in your contract.

Start with the at-a-glance table, pick the two networks that match your goal, and send the email above to each. It takes under an hour.