How Does Your Podcast Measure Up? Omny’s 2024 Data Has The Answer.

Omny Studio has released its annual global podcast benchmarking report, offering creators a data-driven snapshot of how their shows compare across categories and download milestones. Based on 2024 downloads, the newly released data offers a useful barometer of podcast performance.

The headline statistic is that an episode needed just over 43 000,00 downloads within 30 days of publishing to land in the top 1 % of all podcasts hosted on Omny. That’s relatively flat compared to 2023, though the growing volume of available content and listener fragmentation is subtly reshaping the landscape, especially for mid-tier performers.

The News category remained the most downloaded genre on the platform, but breaking into the top tiers got harder. To be in the top 5 % of News podcasts, episodes needed 24 252,00 downloads or more, up from last year.

In Comedy, the top 1 % threshold surged to 94 391,00 downloads, compared to 82 026,00 in 2023. That jump suggests more concentrated listening around major titles as the appetite for comedic relief grows. Meanwhile, hitting the 50th percentile in Comedy is slightly more attainable than before, hinting at broader participation in the middle tier.

Society & Culture showed an interesting spread in 2024. The Top 1 % and 2 % saw significant gains, while the gap between the top 5 % and top 2 % widened. This suggests growing popularity of standout content - but with an achievable gap to close. In 2023, 27 484,00 downloads got you into the Top 2 %. That number jumped significantly this year, reflecting increased interest in personal storytelling and cultural commentary.

Perhaps the biggest leap was in Sports, where the bar for Top 1 % status nearly doubled. Podcasters now need an eye-popping 127 916,00 downloads in the first month to reach that level - highlighting the draw of live events, analysis, and athlete-driven content during a packed sports calendar.

How Long Do Download Milestones Take?

New to this year's benchmarking report is a closer look at how long episodes take to reach key download thresholds. Omny broke the data into three tiers: episodes with 1,000+, 10,000+ and 100,000+ downloads - then analyzed their performance over the first 28 days after release.

Across all levels, a significant portion of downloads happen within the first 24 hours, with many episodes hitting around 50 % of their lifetime 30-day downloads on day one. However, the most downloaded episodes - those with over 100 000,00 plays - tend to accumulate listens more gradually. This "long tail" suggests their content may be more evergreen or less time-sensitive, continuing to attract new listeners well after release.

The data also helps challenge a common industry misconception: that most podcast downloads occur instantly via auto-downloads. In fact, the first-hour numbers are modest, implying intentional listening behavior rather than passive consumption. That's important insight for advertisers, who often question how quickly audiences engage with an episode.

The takeaway? Podcast listening is active and continues well beyond launch day. For creators and marketers alike, it reinforces the value of letting campaigns run for at least 30 days to reach full audience potential.

“Yes, as podcasting grows in popularity and more advertisers enter the space, there are some eye-watering numbers for episodes at the top,” Triton Executive Vice President Podcast and Content Delivery Sharon Taylor says in a blog post. “For those at the other end, some branded podcasts or shows for a very niche audience perhaps, I hope this provides comfort that you’re doing things well — even if you’re yet to crack the 1 000,00 per episode mark (or lower, in some categories).”

How Do Countries Compare?

While podcasting trends evolve globally, Omny’s 2024 report shows that regional differences remain remarkably steady — with a few notable exceptions.

North America - home to the largest podcasting audience globally - showed modest but meaningful change. Notably, the bar to enter the Top 1 % eased slightly, dropping by about 10 000,00 downloads. That softening may be due to increasing audience fragmentation as more podcasts compete for attention, or simply an indicator of broader growth across the middle tiers.

In contrast, Latin America showed continued momentum in 2024. For the second year in a row, the region saw substantial growth. The number of downloads needed to reach the Top 1 % jumped by more than 10,000, now sitting at 33 278,00 downloads within 30 days. That surge reflects a maturing ecosystem and growing appetite for on-demand audio content across Latin America, where investment in local creators and culturally relevant formats continues to rise.

Once again, Australia proved to be a model of consistency. The download thresholds needed to break into the Top 50 %, Top 10 %, or even Top 1 % of episodes barely shifted from 2023. Whether you're producing news, comedy, or niche content, the performance benchmarks down under have held firm - suggesting a stable and mature podcasting market.

The United Kingdom followed a similar pattern, with very little year-over-year movement in key percentiles. Consistency appears to be the defining trend in the UK as well, a sign that while the creator base may be growing, audience behavior and listening volume are keeping pace.