New audio chart – Australian Podcast Ranker launched

The first monthly Australian Podcast Ranker was launched today at the national Radio Alive conference in Brisbane, providing a first look at Australia’s top 100 most downloaded and listened to podcasts in September 2019. The podcasts accounted for 10 million downloads in Australia during the four week reporting period.

The ranker has started with a foundation group of podcast publishers including News Corp Australia, PodcastOne Australia, Nova Entertainment, Southern Cross Austereo, Australian Radio Network, Macquarie Media and SEN/Crocmedia.

The first ranker lists the most popular podcasts across the launch group of publishers that can be both heard in Australia, and importantly from a commercial perspective, into which advertising can be sold in Australia.

A number of additional publishers, including the ABC, will join the ranker in the next couple of months, and all podcast producers with Australian and international content are invited to participate.

IAB Tech Lab-certified global audio technology services provider Triton Digital has been appointed to provide measuring and reporting services for the ranker following an extensive global tender process. The ranker is compliant with IAB Tech Lab’s version 2.0 podcast measurement guidelines and will be independently audited.

“We’re excited to work with current and future partners across the podcast sector and with Triton Digital to create a reliable, agreed and regular reporting tool for the podcast industry,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of industry body Commercial Radio Australia.

“One of the main objectives of the Australian Podcast Ranker is to increase awareness for consumers and therefore grow podcast consumption, while also creating a framework and guide to assist advertisers to understand opportunities within the podcasting space.

“This work was initiated by the radio industry because of the significant investment made by radio broadcasters in the podcast space, not only into catch-up radio podcasts but into original content outside of the radio offering.”

Jo Dick, head of partnerships, outdoor and audio, Omnicom Media Group and a member of the podcast committee, said: “This is a major initiative for podcasting in this country. I fully support this work as I see it as a first step to allowing advertisers to have confidence in an agreed reporting approach around this new area of investment. I look forward to continuing to develop this tool in collaboration with the foundation and new members of the group in the coming months.”