“Crime Junkie” held the top position in podcast audio reach for May 2026, while “The Mel Robbins Podcast” advanced three places in the same ranking, according to the monthly Podscribe Ranker published June 2.

The audio reach metric counts the estimated number of monthly listeners who download at least one episode and excludes YouTube viewers. Separate rankings in the report track average downloads and views per episode and total downloads and views per month, both of which incorporate YouTube and Spotify Video data alongside traditional podcast downloads.

Source: Podscribe

Audio Reach Rankings

“Crime Junkie,” distributed by Red Seat Ventures, reached an estimated 22.6 million monthly listeners in May, up 69% from the prior period. “The Daily” from The New York Times held second place at approximately 7.9 million listeners, a 12% decline.

“The Mel Robbins Podcast,” distributed through SXM Media, advanced from sixth to third in audio reach with approximately 5.7 million listeners, up 38%. The show’s per-episode downloads and views rose 28% to approximately 1.7 million, and its monthly total reached approximately 16.4 million, an 11% increase.

“Up First” from NPR ranked fourth at approximately 5.3 million listeners, a 4% decline. “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Spotify posted a 40% gain to approximately 5.1 million listeners, ranking fifth. “NPR News Now” fell 11% to approximately 4.8 million at sixth, and “Pod Save America” from Crooked Media declined 17% to approximately 3.5 million at seventh.

“Stuff You Should Know,” published by iHeartMedia, entered the audio reach top 10 at tenth with approximately 3.1 million listeners, a 9% increase.

Per-Episode and Monthly Volume

“The Diary of a CEO” with Steven Bartlett, from Flight Story, led the per-episode ranking with approximately 4.3 million downloads and views per episode, up 25%. The show also ranked second in total monthly volume at approximately 66.3 million, up 30%. In the audio reach ranking, which excludes YouTube, the show placed eighth at approximately 3.4 million listeners.

“Crime Junkie” placed second in the per-episode table at approximately 3.3 million, up 8%, and fourth in monthly volume at approximately 43.2 million, up 55%. “Rotten Mango,” an SXM Media true crime podcast, posted a 316% increase in monthly volume to approximately 19.4 million.

“The Oprah Podcast” from Nativ.ly ranked fourth in per-episode performance at approximately 3.0 million downloads and views, up 7%, advancing three places from the prior period. “Kill Tony” held fifth at approximately 2.9 million per episode, despite a 2% decline in that metric.

“A Bit Fruity” with Matt Bernstein from MoonBeam Media placed tenth in per-episode performance with approximately 708,000 downloads and views, up 258%, and approximately 2.8 million in monthly volume, up 119%.

“The MeidasTouch Podcast” led all shows in total monthly volume at approximately 88.5 million downloads and views, a figure down 27% from the prior period.

Ad Load and Direct Response Data

Among the audio reach top 10, “Stuff You Should Know” carried the highest ad load at 17%, while “The Diary of a CEO” carried the lowest at 6%. “Crime Junkie’s” ad load stood at 12%, and “The Mel Robbins Podcast” at 11%.

Direct response rates, measuring the share of ads tied to trackable outcomes, reached 97% for “The Diary of a CEO” and 95% for “Pod Save America,” compared with 71% for “On Purpose” with Jay Shetty and 79% for “The Mel Robbins Podcast.”

May 2026 data covers the period from May 1 through May 31.

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