According to data from Listen Notes, 198,488 new podcast feeds were created in 2025—a marginal increase from 198,280 in 2024. While the year-on-year growth is minimal, these numbers only tell part of the story. The actual number of new podcast launches is significantly higher.
That’s because many new shows are launched using existing podcast feeds—especially in cases where creators rebrand, reformat, or spin off a series under the same feed. This trend is increasingly common among professional podcasters, media companies, and marketers looking to maintain audience retention and RSS continuity while introducing new concepts.
The relatively flat year-over-year figure reflects the industry’s maturation, not stagnation. Podcasting has shifted from a gold rush of first-time creators to a more sustainable, professionalized medium.
Rather than chasing launch volume, creators are focused on improving quality, audience targeting, and content repurposing.
Additionally, these stats emphasize the importance of interpreting feed data vs. actual show data. For marketers, platforms, and sponsors, relying solely on new feed numbers could underestimate real activity in the podcasting space.
Whether a podcast is launched on a fresh feed or inherits an old one, the creative energy behind it remains strong. In fact, as production tools become more accessible and video podcasting grows, more businesses and creators are finding innovative ways to re-enter the space—even without showing up in new feed metrics.
If you're tracking podcasting trends, keep this in mind: the number of feeds might be steady, but the impact and intent behind new shows are evolving fast.
