Podcast ratings and what they tell us

At Fresh Air, we’re huge fans of Dan Misener at ‘Bumper’. Since his time at Pacific Content he’s established himself as one of the world’s leaders in podcast insights. Fair do’s to the fella, because he’s recently spent time analysing over 28 million Apple Podcast Star ratings . The long nights must have flown by.

But what does all this analysis tell us? Well, in short, only 28% of podcasts have any ratings at all, and 87% of ratings are 5 stars. Explicit shows (i.e. with a bit of sweariness in them) get more highly rated than clean ones, and true crime podcasts get the most stars by a mile.

It’s important to remember that we know for a fact Apple star ratings make very little difference to your ranking in the podcast charts or the recommendation algorithms. So perhaps reviews are a pure vanity metric, most often posted by friends of the podcaster to make them look good. So don’t stress if no-one is reviewing your podcast, but if you want to see those stars go up, making some sweary crime is the secret. Thanks for all the work Dan.


Related News

  • IAB Podcast Upfronts 2022

    EDITORIAL

    IAB Podcast Upfronts 2022

    WHY BRANDS SHOULD BUILD THEIR OWN PODCAST In October 2022, we appeared at the IAB UK Podcast Upfronts to explain why your brand should have your own podcast. We chatted with Ruairi O’Kane of National Lottery and Amber Rose-GIll, presenter of their series ‘ Amazing Starts Here ’ about the sucess of the podcasts and…

  • Fresh Air Falcons – Match Report

    EDITORIAL

    Fresh Air Falcons – Match Report

    LEEK CSOB FALCONS 0 LEEK CSOB TIGERS 4 The Fresh Air foray into the world of football continued to build on its disastrous start with the fifth defeat in a row. This week’s match was a local derby between the Falcons and arch rivals, Tigers. I’d like to say it was a game of two…

  • Content Wars

    EDITORIAL

    Content Wars

    I predict a riot. Ok. Well maybe not a riot . But a mini-revolution at the least. It feels like podcasting has reached a point where it’s now very definitely mainstream. Even my mum understands what it is, even if she hasn’t actually listened to one. And that’s a fairly decent indicator. But the danger…