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Apple highlights top Podcasts of 2022 across new shows, subscribers, shared, free, more

After announcing its 2022 App Store Awards including the Podcast of the Year, Apple shared eight new Podcast charts for 2022 including the top shows of the year, top new shows, top shared shows, and top free channels.

Apple shared the new year-end charts in its Podcasts app.

“These year-end charts are available to listeners in nearly 100 countries and regions and reflect the most popular podcasts in each local market. This means listeners in the U.S. can browse the Top New Shows among listeners in the U.S. while listeners in France can browse the Top New Shows among listeners in France — helping people discover popular podcasts that are relevant to them and in their local language.”

Apple Podcasts 2022 top charts

Apple also shared highlights from the US top charts:

  • Audiochuck is the most popular podcaster in the country. The Indianapolis-based network founded by Ashley Flowers is the Top Free Channel for the second consecutive year. Its flagship show, Crime Junkie, is the Top Show, Most Followed Show, and Top Shared Show in the U.S. One of the company’s newest series, The Deck, is the Top New Show and among the top five Top Followed Shows in the U.S.
  • The New York Times represents the most podcasts in Top Shows of 2022 with The Daily (#2), This American Life (#6), and Serial (#8). The New York Times is also the second Top Free Channel for the second consecutive year. The Trojan Horse Affair is also one of the Top New Shows (#4).
  • The majority of podcasts included in Top Shows of 2022 are at least five years old.
  • Wondery continues to be the most popular podcast subscription with the Top Subscriber Channel since the subscriber charts launched this summer. Wondery also distributes 16 of the 20 Top Subscriber Shows.
  • All Top Subscriber Shows are broadly distributed and have free, ad-supported episodes, meaning creators do not face a trade-off between reach and revenue with Apple Podcasts and subscriptions.
  • Serial’s “Adnan Is Out” (S01, E13) is the Top Shared Episode of the year in the U.S. “The Alibi” (S01, E01) is the third Top Shared Episode of the Year in the U.S. Serial remained one of the most followed and shared shows of the year.
  • Listeners use and share podcasts to help navigate complex subjects and situations, according to the titles of the Top Shared Episodes. Sounds obvious, but the data is illuminating. Topics include “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health,” (Huberman Lab), “Inside the Adolescent Mental Health Crisis” (The Daily), “We Need to Talk About Covid” (The Daily), “How to Raise Untamed Kids” (We Can Do Hard Things), “The Rise of Workplace Surveillance” (The Daily), “Tools for Optimizing Sleep” (Huberman Lab), “Eating Ourselves to Death” (Honestly with Bari Weiss), and “Grateful for Grief” (All There Is with Anderson Cooper).

If you don’t want to click through to the Podcasts app for each top list, here they are for the US:

Podcasts 2022 Charts – US

Top Shows of 2022

  1. Crime Junkie
  2. The Daily
  3. Dateline NBC
  4. Morbid
  5. SmartLess
  6. This American Life
  7. Up First
  8. Serial
  9. The Ben Shapiro Show
  10. Hidden Brain
  11. Stuff You Should Know
  12. My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
  13. We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle
  14. Radiolab
  15. Fresh Air
  16. Freakonomics Radio
  17. Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
  18. On Purpose with Jay Shetty
  19. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
  20. Something Was Wrong

Top New Shows of 2022

  1. The Deck
  2. Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade
  3. The Thing About Helen & Olga
  4. The Trojan Horse Affair
  5. The Seduction
  6. Betrayal
  7. The Always Sunny Podcast
  8. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
  9. Very Scary People
  10. Twin Flames
  11. MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
  12. KILLED
  13. Dateline: Missing In America
  14. The Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley
  15. Back to the Beach with Kristin and Stephen
  16. Internal Affairs
  17. Father Wants Us Dead
  18. The Sunshine Place
  19. Fed Up
  20. American Radical

Top Subscriber Shows of 2022

  1. Morbid
  2. SmartLess
  3. American Scandal
  4. This Is Actually Happening
  5. Something Was Wrong
  6. Sword and Scale
  7. Over My Dead Body
  8. The Shrink Next Door
  9. Twin Flames
  10. Snap Judgment Presents: Spooked
  11. The Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley
  12. Fed Up
  13. Scamfluencers
  14. Against The Odds
  15. The Vanished Podcast
  16. Dateline NBC
  17. Killer Psyche
  18. The Generation Why Podcast
  19. Internal Affairs
  20. Suspect

Top Followed Shows of 2022

  1. Crime Junkie
  2. Morbid
  3. SmartLess
  4. The Daily
  5. The Deck
  6. Huberman Lab
  7. The Trojan Horse Affair
  8. Dateline NBC
  9. Something Was Wrong
  10. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
  11. We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle
  12. On Purpose with Jay Shetty
  13. Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade
  14. The Thing About Helen & Olga
  15. Serial
  16. The Always Sunny Podcast
  17. Gone South
  18. This Is Actually Happening
  19. CounterClock
  20. Stuff You Should Know

Top Shared Shows of 2022

  1. Crime Junkie
  2. SmartLess
  3. Huberman Lab
  4. The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
  5. Murdaugh Murders Podcast
  6. The Daily
  7. Something Was Wrong
  8. Morbid
  9. S-Town
  10. Serial
  11. The Thing About Pam
  12. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
  13. The Trojan Horse Affair
  14. We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle
  15. On Purpose with Jay Shetty
  16. Your Own Backyard
  17. Dr. Death | S1: Dr. Duntsch
  18. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
  19. Sweet Bobby
  20. The Dropout

Top Shared Episodes of 2022

  1. Serial: “Serial S01 Ep. 13: Adnan Is Out
  2. Huberman Lab: “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health
  3. Serial: “Serial S01 – Ep. 1: The Alibi
  4. We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle: “Breaking Cycles & Reparenting Yourself with Dr. Becky Kennedy
  5. The Daily: “Inside the Adolescent Mental Health Crisis
  6. The Daily: “We Need to Talk About Covid, Part 1
  7. We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle: “How to Raise Untamed Kids with Dr. Becky Kennedy
  8. The Daily: “A Movement to Fight Misinformation… With Misinformation
  9. The Daily: “Why Adnan Syed Was Released From Prison
  10. REAL AF with Andy Frisella: “14. #75HARD: A Tactical Guide To Winning The War With Yourself
  11. Hidden Brain: “Reframing Your Reality: Part 1
  12. The Daily: “The Rise of Workplace Surveillance
  13. Huberman Lab: “Sleep Toolkit: Tools for Optimizing Sleep & Sleep-Wake Timing
  14. Honestly with Bari Weiss: “Eating Ourselves to Death
  15. All There Is with Anderson Cooper: “Stephen Colbert: Grateful for Grief
  16. REAL AF with Andy Frisella: “208. #75HARD + #LIVEHARD: Winning The War Within & Unlocking Your Full Potential
  17. Ologies with Alie Ward: “Part 1: Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD) with Russell Barkley
  18. The Peter Attia Drive: “COVID-19: Current state of affairs, Omicron, and a search for the end game
  19. The Daily: “The Pastors Being Driven Out by Trumpism
  20. FULL SEND PODCAST: “Donald Trump on WW3, Talking to Putin, and Joe Rogan!

Top Subscriber Channels of 2022

  1. Wondery
  2. Dateline NBC
  3. Pushkin
  4. Tenderfoot TV
  5. TED Audio Collective
  6. BBC Podcasts
  7. Planet Money
  8. Radiolab
  9. The Moth
  10. Luminary
  11. Slate Podcasts
  12. Lemonada
  13. The Binge
  14. Casefile Presents
  15. Radiotopia
  16. Slumber Studios
  17. The Athletic
  18. S&S +PLUS Light
  19. Imperative
  20. Wondery Kids

Top Free Channels of 2022

  1. audiochuck
  2. The New York Times
  3. iHeartPodcasts
  4. Serial
  5. The Daily Wire
  6. Barstool Sports
  7. Dear Media
  8. ABC News
  9. Exactly Right
  10. Earwolf
  11. Team Coco
  12. ESPN
  13. Crooked Media
  14. MSNBC
  15. Freakonomics
  16. All Things Comedy Network
  17. C13Originals
  18. The Black Effect Network
  19. Vox Media Podcast Network
  20. Ramble

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Avatar for Michael Potuck Michael Potuck

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.


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