Pew Research Center analyzed podcast content in the United States, specifically examining the guests hosted by top-ranked podcasts in 2022.
A content analysis of 434 top podcasts with 24,004 episodes was conducted between Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2022. All podcasts were on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and researchers used OpenAI’s Generative Pre-Trained (GPT) model to extract the names of guests in these episodes.
Key findings include:
1.) 24% of the top podcasts focused on true crime, followed by politics and the government (10%); entertainment, pop culture, and the arts (9%); and self-help and relationships (8%).
2.) 15% of all top-ranked podcasts discussed news in 2022.
— 89% of news-focused podcasts hosted at least one guest during the year.
— 31% of news-focused podcasts hosted guests regularly, followed by those that almost always brought on guests (13%).
3.) 100% of top sports podcasts had one episode with a guest, followed by self-help podcasts (86%), entertainment podcasts (85%), and political podcasts (78%).
4.) 52% of top-ranked podcasts (225 total) shared at least one guest with another top-ranked podcast.
Find the original research here
