Triton Digital’s newly released Q3 2025 U.S. Podcast Ranker reveals a sharp link between podcast genres and holiday shopping behavior, giving advertisers granular data on where retail-minded audiences cluster as Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach.
The report, powered by Triton’s next-generation Demos+ planning suite, shows true crime (87.6% index), comedy (86.6%), sports (86.3%), history (85.3%), and news (84.1%) listeners are the most likely to shop at big-box retailers.
Key findings from the revamped Ranker, the second quarterly release since its overhaul:
- News listening surged 7% to 29.1% of total reach, fueled by political and cultural commentary; 40 news shows now rank in the Top 200.
- Sports listening jumped 9% to 19.8%, driven by the new NFL season, with New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce debuting at #5.
- Big-box retail fans heavily index on true crime, comedy, sports, history, and news.
- Department store shoppers concentrate in technology, kids & family, education, music, and business podcasts.
- Fast-fashion listeners favor kids & family, music, education, technology, and business.
- Luxury boutique shoppers cluster in technology, kids & family, business, music, and education.
- Online shoppers prefer technology, kids & family, health & fitness, business, and music; in-person shoppers lean toward news, science, sports, fiction, and comedy.
“Podcasts reflect consumers’ broader lifestyles and interests, making them one of the most powerful drivers of both discovery and decision-making for brands,” said Daryl Battaglia, SVP of Measurement Products & Strategy at Triton Digital. “As brands ramp up campaigns for the holiday shopping frenzy, our data helps them align content with intent in a meaningful way.”
Among measured sales networks, iHeart Audience Network, NPR, and Audacy Podcast Network led in average weekly downloads, while NPR News Now remained the top individual program. The Washington Post Podcast Network joined the Ranker this quarter.