What makes a podcast truly popular? Is it the hours of watch time it racks up, or the number of people who keep coming back for more?
Each week, YouTube offers one lens on that question: a ranking of the top podcasts in the U.S., based on total watch time. For publishers, it’s an effective snapshot of viewers’ attention. But when trying to understand audience loyalty, repeat viewing behavior, or brand value for potential sponsors, it may just be the start of the conversation.
So how do we dig in even deeper?
At Tubular, we looked at three of the top podcast creators to find different lenses for success – and how publishers and brand partners can think about success in new ways.
Capitalizing on Core Fans: Kill Tony
Kill Tony, the live comedy podcast hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe, has built a strong following through frequent uploads and an always-changing stage format.
While it’s regularly a top podcast by watch-time, according to YouTube’s rankings, Tubular Audience Ratings also reveal the show drew in nearly 2.7 million unique U.S. viewers in June. High watch-time and lower unique viewers (relative to other top podcasts) indicate that Kill Tony has a strong base of frequent and repeat viewers, even if it’s not as broad of an audience.
Kill Tony has been able to double down on sustained engagement and audience retention, and that sort of dedication can translate well with brand partners looking to find niche but highly bought-in viewership. This year alone, the show has been able to translate their dedicated viewership into sponsorships from brands like Shopify, ZipRecruiter, Tecovas, BlueChew, and more.
By prioritizing a show like Kill Tony that has such dedicated tune-in, these sponsors are banking on higher conversion rates from extended periods of engagement – even with a “smaller” audience.
Underrated Engagement: Brian Tyler Cohen
Brian Tyler Cohen’s political podcast has surged during a very busy year for news. While uploads are not overly long (videos are typically under 20 minutes), minutes watched and unique viewers are still climbing. Tubular data shows his unique U.S. viewers grew by 29% month-over-month in June, making him one of the top five podcasts by reach.
Political content typically isn’t as popular during non-election years, but Cohen’s been able to use the daily news cycle as a lightning rod for not just engagement and repeat viewing, but also growing his audience. The subject matter may not make the show the easiest sell to sponsors, but high reach in a crowded space can still make for lucrative monetization opportunities through YouTube’s own ad programs.
For creators like Cohen, understanding audience growth from a unique viewer and minutes watched standpoint helps tailor content strategies. The underlying data allows creators to lean into videos that continue increasing trajectories and meet viewers with the topics they’re most interested in watching, in their preferred formats.
Audiences Want Weird: The Why Files
The Why Files’ evergreen podcast invites audiences into the world of myths, legends, conspiracies, and weird happenings, in a way that inspires both repeat and archival viewing. And with a narrative approach resembling television, there’s little reason for viewers to drop out before each episode wraps up after 20 to 25 minutes.
Tubular data shows that The Why Files grew unique U.S. viewers by 21% month-over-month in June, while watch-time climbed by 24%. Having those figures grow similarly shows that The Why Files was not just acquiring new viewers, but also getting them to tune into full episodes right away, too.
Despite the allure of timely podcast episodes (and there’s plenty of reason to embrace the format), evergreen content can lend to more library viewing and enhance the power of extended tune-in and discovery, especially on TV devices.
The Full Picture: Adding Context to Weekly Rankings
YouTube’s rankings are an excellent signal of what podcasts are trending week-to-week, and those rankings can be supplemented with additional data to help evaluate long-term value, emerging trends, or audience dynamics.
Tubular gives you the tools to gain deeper insights on:
- Audience depth: Along with how much time people are spending on content, understand more about who the audience is, how often they watch, and how their engagement evolves over time.
- Cross-platform context: Tubular customers get a more comprehensive picture of their audience, understanding performance across social video platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more.
- Growth potential: Brands and publishers utilizing Tubular can identify creators on the rise or undervalued shows that perform well both in terms of audience loyalty and tune-in frequency.
If you’re allocating budget, scouting partners, or refining your content strategy, these data points can better inform your approach to content.
Curious what else Tubular data reveals? Get a demo today.