CRA releases first monthly podcast ranking, with Hamish and Andy at the top
Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) has announced the launch of the first monthly Australian Podcast Ranker which will see Australia’s top 100 most-downloaded and listened to podcasts ranked each month.
The ranking, announced today at the Radio Alive conference in Brisbane, launches with a foundation group of podcast publishers including News Corp Australia, Podcast One Australia, Nova Entertainment, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), Australian Radio Network (ARN), Macquarie Media and SEN/ Crocmedia.
The first Australian Podcast Ranker top 20 [Click to enlarge]
Reporting is being completed by IAB Tech Lab-certified global audio technology services provider Triton Digital following a global tender process. The ranker is compliant with IAB Tech Lab’s version 2.0 podcast measurement guidelines and will be independently audited.
The inaugural list for September 2019 sees SCA and Podcast One’s Hamish and Andy podcast sitting in the top spot, while Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty takes second place. SCA’s The Rub, SEN’s Whateley and SEN Breakfast round out the top five.
CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner said the industry body is happy to be able to provide the industry with its first regular and reliable reporting tool.
“We’re excited to work with current and future partners across the podcast sector and with Triton Digital to create a reliable, agreed and regular reporting tool for the podcast industry,” said Warner.
“One of the main objectives of the Australian Podcast Ranker is to increase awareness for consumers and therefore grow podcast consumption, while also creating a framework and guide to assist advertisers to understand opportunities within the podcasting space.
“This work was initiated by the radio industry because of the significant investment made by radio broadcasters in the podcast space, not only into catch-up radio podcasts but into original content outside of the radio offering.
“Radio is one part of podcasting and now that we are up and running, we extend the invitation to all podcast publishers to join us and help shape this work and grow the sector into the future. As the list of participating publishers expands each month, we are confident the value to advertisers of being able to access a credible, independent ranker will be clear.”
Hamish and Andy’s podcast has taken the top spot in the first ranking
The ranking system is planned to develop over time with the inclusion of more specific data on publisher and program performance. It’s the first of its kind in Australia, and is hoped to better help advertisers understand the reach and impact of podcasting.
Jo Dick, head of partnerships, outdoor and audio at Omnicom Media Group and a member of the Podcast Committee, said: “This is a major initiative for podcasting in this country. I fully support this work as I see it as a first step to allowing advertisers to have confidence in an agreed reporting approach around this new area of investment. I look forward to continuing to develop this tool in collaboration with the foundation and new members of the group in the coming months.”
News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman Michael Miller said: “News Corp Australia is pleased to be a foundation partner with Commercial Radio Australia and many fellow podcast publishers in the launch of a consistent and overarching ranker to grow podcasting in this country.
“As one of Australia’s largest podcast producers at the forefront of driving new podcasting content, we understand the importance of taking part in an initiative that will increase consumer awareness and drive more revenue into the space.”
ABC managing director David Anderson said: “The ABC has confirmed our future involvement in the industry podcast ranker, which we believe will provide clarity to an industry which is in a period of growth and development. The ABC is a major podcast creator and has been for many years. We believe ABC being included in the ranker will contextualise the space overall and provide good insights for our stakeholders into ABC’s work in this area. We are pleased to work once again with CRA on a project to enhance the audio space.”
Commercial radio broadcasters established the Podcast Committee, including the ABC and SBS, in late 2018 and sought agency involvement and advice, to develop and promote podcasting in Australia.
Cathy O’Connor, chair of the Podcast Committee and chief executive officer at Nova Entertainment said: “The Australian Podcast Ranker is the first significant project to be derived from the Podcast Committee and will set the stage for future data-driven conversations in the podcasting space.”
John Rosso, president of market development at Triton Digital said: “We are thrilled to have been appointed as the provider of measuring and reporting services for the Australian Podcast Ranker. We have been working closely with CRA and the publishers involved in the group to ensure that the ranker is compliant with IAB Tech Lab’s podcast measurement guidelines and best positioned to accurately report on the podcasting space in Australia. We look forward to being part of the continued and collaborative development of the ranker.”
The full list of 100 top podcasts for September can be found here.
So is that 7 of the top 10 that are just radio show best-ofs?
What a depressing list! Apart from a few standouts (Hamish & Andy included) this reads as a ‘things my dad would download’ list – have the over 65s finally discovered Podcasts or is Australia just that boring? Where’s the variety? Here’s some recommendations for any Podcast newbies:
• Ask an Anatomist
• Australian True Crime
• Better than Yesterday with Osher Gunsburg
• CHILDPROOF with Tony Martin
• Don’t You Know Who I Am? (Podcast panel comedy show hosted by Josh Earl)
• FitBet with Dilruk & Ben (Fitness and Comedy)
• The Grub (Comedy with Anne Edmonds, Ben Russell and Greg Larsson)
• Plant Strong with Rip Esselstyn (Nutrition)
• TEAM Effort (Comedy)
• Ash Williams Podcast (Comedy)
• Plant Proof (Nutrition)
• Welcome to Night Vale (Sci Fi)
• We Want to Be Better (Lifestyle)
• Tony Martin’s Sizzletown
• The Rich Roll Podcast
Any of these are better than a lot of that depressing list.
Worth noting the significant absence of Australian podcasts not created by a commercial radio network.
Great that this has been created but it’s currently a slightly misleading representation of the podcast landscape in Australia.
Feels like grocery shopping at a 7-11 rather than a Woolworths.
There is a conspicuous absence of any kind of metric. I would have expected even something equivalent to ‘market share’ to use compare the relative popularity of each podcast.
7 of the 10 top from the companies that contribute to the ranking list.
The lede is misleading in saying that the list contains “Australia’s top 100 most-downloaded and listened to podcasts ranked each month”
These appear to be primarily ‘radio-based’ podcasts.
Is the ‘market’ they are reporting on open to non-radio based podcasts?
Maybe their system requires signing-up or deploying some measurement software or device in order to be reported – if so, is it open to all?
Seems all rather smelly… top podcasts are all network produced, when all the data is only from the networks. Without prodding the lion, where’s the Spotify data? Surely it would make sense to have the out and out biggest streaming platform’s data for a semblance of neutral overall scoring? Or is that against the CRA rules?
Love to know what it is for individual episodes. These are all pretty much daily podcasts by the look. Casefile only do usually 3 a month vs the breakfast ones that would do 20 odd.