The Top 25 Podcasts in the UK for Q1 2026
Edison Research at SSRS announces the Top 25 Podcasts in the UK from Edison Podcast Metrics based on reach for the first quarter of 2026 among weekly podcast consumers ages 15+.
The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, and The Rest Is Politics top the list, as they did in Q4 2025. The top four shows remain in the same rank order as Q4. The full list of Top 25 podcasts is below.
Two BBC news podcasts hit a record high. Newscast breaks into the top five and Americast into the top ten. Both podcasts covered stories on the Iran War, Maduro’s capture, and ICE Protests in the U.S
Two sports podcasts also reach their highest rank on record: The Overlap and Stick to Football.
ZOE Science & Nutrition climbed 86 ranks to enter the top 25 for the first time. The show was nominated for an iHeart best-branded podcast award in 2026. ZOE was in the spotlight in Q1 2026 after the ASA upheld a ban on a ZOE ad that claimed its supplement was "just real food.”
Mel Robbins breaks into the top 25 in the UK. Robbins was named a TIME 2026 Woman of the Year in March.
The top 25 podcasts in the UK
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About Edison Podcast Metrics
Edison Podcast Metrics is unique in that it is not dependent on podcast download data and does not require podcast networks to opt into its service. At least 2,000 weekly podcast consumers in the UK are surveyed each quarter, and listening behavior is collected regardless of listening platform. The same methodology is being employed in the UK as is used in the U.S.
Data from Edison Podcast Metrics UK provides show-level information on the top podcasts in the UK. Subscribers can analyze demographics, psychographics, and purchase-behavior information of weekly podcast consumers. The first Top Podcast Shows ranker in the U.S. was released by Edison Research in November 2019; the company has been tracking podcast consumption in the aggregate since 2006.
For more information on how to become a subscriber to the full datasets, please contact info@edisonresearch.com.
The above list of podcasts is available as an OPML file for your podcast player
About Edison Research at SSRS
Edison Research conducts survey research and provides strategic information to a broad array of clients worldwide, having conducted research in 66 countries. Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial® series has been the survey of record for digital audio, social media, podcasting, smart speakers, and other media-related technologies since 1998. The company’s Share of Ear® survey is the only single-source measure of all audio in the U.S. Edison Research is the leading podcast research company in the world, producing the only survey-based data on podcast listening in the U.S, Edison Podcast Metrics, and has conducted research for many companies in the space. On October 15, 2025, Edison Research announced the company’s acquisition by the full-service market research firm SSRS.
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.