The latest BBC Sounds quarterly report from October to December 2022 once again shows an increase in listening.
BBC Sounds had a record 197.7 million plays for on-demand radio programmes, podcasts and music mixes, up 18.2% from the same quarter last year.
Topping the charts was Newscast, and the BBC’s Football titles, including Football Daily and Match of the Day: Top 10, were popular especially amongst younger audiences.
As headlines were dominated by Liz Truss’ resignation and the ensuing leadership election, listeners were once again drawn to Newscast, making it the most popular podcast on BBC Sounds overall and for listeners under 35 this quarter.
With the FIFA World Cup in Qatar attracting a global audience, football podcasts helped drive younger listeners to BBC Sounds this quarter.
Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer “brought the banter” in episodes of Match of the Day: Top 10, which was the third most listened to podcast for under 35s and among the podcasts with the highest proportion of listeners under 35.
The Footballer’s Football podcast with star Premier League strikers Michail Antonio and Callum Wilson was also among the top ten podcasts with the highest proportion of listeners under 35.
Investigative series’ like Danny Robins’ The Witch Farm were among the most listened to podcasts last quarter, with listeners of all ages following the mysterious tale of the supernatural on BBC Sounds.
Listeners also enjoyed highly anticipated new episodes of The Missing Cryptoqueen which gave updates on the hunt for Dr Ruja, both of which were in the top ten most listened to podcasts for all adults and for listeners under 35.
With the ongoing cost of living crisis, self-improvement podcasts were also popular. Sleep Well with Michael Mosley with simple but effective tips to improving our nocturnal habits and Sliced Bread which looks into the latest trends and fads, were both in the top ten most listened to podcasts last quarter.
In total, there were 259 million global podcast downloads across the world between October and December 2022, with the Global News Podcast (BBC World Service), The Documentary Podcast (BBC World Service) and Newscast (BBC News) forming the top three most popular podcasts on BBC Sounds.
Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, said: “More and more people are discovering great audio from the BBC on Sounds, wherever and whenever they want to, and we’ve seen record plays of our on-demand content.
Newscast has truly secured its position as an essential daily listen as listeners come to us for high quality news and insightful analysis.
“People have also enjoyed content that matches their interests and entertains them, from our football titles to lifestyle shows and Radio 1’s Murder Mystery, and the brilliant storytelling in our investigative podcasts and interviews.”
