Top 10 Apple Podcasts Subscriptions Revealed on International Podcast Day

In celebration of International Podcast Day, Apple today revealed the most popular free and paid Apple Podcasts Subscriptions worldwide from June 15 through September 15.

Podcasts Feature
Apple said Top Subscriptions is ranked in order of total subscribed listeners worldwide over the three-month period and includes both individual shows and channels with multiple shows, while Top Free Channels is ranked in the same way but does not include any fully paid or "freemium" channels with a mix of free and paid content.

Top Subscriptions

1. Wondery+ from Wondery
2. Luminary from Luminary
3. Sword and Scale +PLUS Light from Incongruity
4. TenderfootPlus+ from Tenderfoot TV
5. PushNik from Pushkin Industries
6. QCODE+ from QCODE
7. Imperative Premium Series from Imperative Entertainment
8. Podimo Deutschland from Podimo
9. U Up? from Betches Media
10. The Handoff from CNN

Top Free Channels

1. The New York Times
2. audiochuck
3. iHeartPodcast Network
4. Barstool Sports
5. Dateline NBC
6. ABC News
7. TED Audio Collective
8. ESPN
9. Crooked Media
10. Ramble

Apple Podcasts Subscriptions launched in June and allows users to subscribe to premium podcasts with a variety of benefits, such as ad-free listening, access to additional content, and early or exclusive access to new series.

"Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels launched just a few months ago and already listeners around the world are enjoying spectacular new shows and exclusive benefits from a variety of incredible creators such as Wondery, Luminary, and now Marvel Entertainment," said Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and Beats.

Top Rated Comments

macsorcery Avatar
26 months ago
not surprising that the people who don't demand a lot from their podcast player do not demand a lot from their podcasts either.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sydryx Avatar
26 months ago

Whats the best podcast app these days? Apple podcast app continues to be terrible
I’m a fan of PocketCasts because of the Mac App and Sonos integration, but I’ve also used Overcast and that was great too.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yaxomoxay Avatar
26 months ago
I would’ve liked a table of the top independent podcasters.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pavinder Avatar
26 months ago

Whats the best podcast app these days? Apple podcast app continues to be terrible
Pocket Casts for me. Really great customization. I particularly like the different filter options to group downloaded episodes of multiple podcasts together or seperately, and the multiple sorting options.

A special mention for Airr though - its sorting and filtering are weak, but it has an incredible one-tap button feature to capture editable clips of the previous 30 seconds of audio, brilliant for saving important parts of interviews, quotations etc.
And then with another tap, it can convert the podcast audio into a text transcript for copy/pasting into other apps!

So when I'm listening to 2-hour conversations and interviews full of insightful points or great quotations, Airr helps capture/save all those things instantly, rather than having to re-listen later and try to find them, which used to be such a hassle.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tonywalker23 Avatar
26 months ago
All I want is for the app to stay in sync. Opening the app on another device will result in dozens, occasionally hundreds, of episodes changing to unplayed. I just don't understand why it is so hard for a "station" made of these simple rules (include all podcasts, only the unplayed ones) to stay in sync between my Apple devices.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
davidako Avatar
26 months ago

Whats the best podcast app these days? Apple podcast app continues to be terrible
Pocket Casts
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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