Are these the best podcasts of the year? Data says yes
In a year of great upheaval, Australians turned to podcasts for entertainment and information. But not every pod can be the most popular. Apple’s rankings show how they stacked up.
Comedy, true crime and current affairs podcasts are among Apple’s most listened to shows of 2020, according to newly-released annual charts from the tech company. The rankings are made up of four different categories that contain a variety of productions, including the requisite shoo-ins as well as a couple of underdogs. The rankings are a reflection of what Australians chose to tune into to help make sense of (and escape from) this truly bizarre year.
This year saw a special new category introduced to the tech company’s rankings. Chosen for its all-round popularity by Apple’s in-house podcasting team, the ‘Show of the Year’ went to The Eleventh, an ABC podcast that dives deep on the lesser known forces that drove the dismissal of former Australian PM, Gough Whitlam.
According to Apple’s charts, the podcast with the most listens overall was Conversations, an ABC production that features highly personal long-form interviews with inspiring Australians. Notably absent from this year’s list was The Joe Rogan Experience, a show that sees the polarising American comedian Joe Rogan interview public figures on hot-button issues of the day. In May, Rogan announced he had signed a multi-year licensing deal worth around $135 million with Spotify, which gave the streaming platform exclusive rights to publish his show. Save for his most recent episode, Rogan’s library was recently wiped from Apple as part of the deal.
To give you an idea of Rogan’s popularity, despite his library only becoming available on Spotify from September 1, in the space of two months it received more listens than any other podcast on the streaming platform. Just two days ago, it was named Spotify’s most popular show of 2020.
The Night Driver, a podcast by The Australian, was Apple’s second-most popular new show. Hosted by Hedley Thomas, the investigative journalist behind the Gold Walkley-winning The Teacher’s Pet podcast, it‘s a thrilling yet chilling look into the 2001 disappearance of Bathurst mother Janine Vaughan. Like Thomas did with The Teacher’s Pet, his research has helped to reignite public interest in the Vaughan case, which he hopes will lead to new evidence being brought forward.
Elsewhere, ABC’s Coronacast was named the year’s best new show. Informative yet approachable, it’s ability to make virus-related news and research easily understandable to a mass audience meant the podcast became a go-to source of information for many throughout the pandemic.
For the full list of Apple’s best podcasts of 2020, see below.
Top 10 Shows Overall (as determined by Apple podcast charts)
1. Conversations, ABC
2.. Casefile True Crime, Casefile Presents
3. Hamish & Andy, PodcastOne Australia
4. Australian True Crime, Meshel Laurie
5. Coronacast, ABC
6. Shameless, Shameless Media
7. The Lighthouse, The Australian
8. No Filter, Mamamia
9. Stuff You Should Know, iHeartRadio
10. The Daily, New York Times
Top 10 New Shows (as determined by Apple podcast charts)
1. Coronacast, ABC
2. The Night Driver, The Australian
3. Unlocking Us with Brené Brown, Parcast Network
4. I Catch Killers with Gary Jubelin, True Crime Australia
5. Grounded with Louis Theroux, BBC
6. The Eleventh, ABC
7. Chasing Charlie, Fremantle Australia
8. Dying For Sex, Wondery
9. It‘s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield, Abbie Chatfield
10. Chasing Cosby, Los Angeles Times.
Show of the Year (selected by Apple’s podcast team)
The Eleventh - ABC
Shows We Loved This Year (selected by Apple’s podcast team)
1. CrossBread — A Comedy Musical, ABC
2. The Deep, Zoe Marshall
3. Chasing Charlie, Fremantle Australia
4. So now what with Waleed Aly, 10 Speaks
5. In Good Health, Sandro Demaio
6. Always was, Always be our stories, Marlee Silva
7. Naked City, The Age & Sydney Morning Herald
8. Everybody has an ex, Minty Media
9. The wait, Nicole Curby, Mozhgan Moarefizadeh, Michael Green in collaboration with the Guardian
10. McUniverse, McUniverse
11. Zero Waste Baby with Veronica Milsom, PodcastOne Australia
12. ListenABLE, PodcastOne Australia
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