Apple Podcasts Most Popular Shows of 2023: ‘Crime Junkie,’ ‘Scamanda’ Top U.S. Charts

Apple has announced the most popular podcasts of 2023 — and true crime once again leads the pack.

Audiochuck’s long-running “Crime Junkie,” hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, was the No. 1 most-listened to podcast overall on Apple Podcasts in the U.S., according to the tech giant. The true-crime podcast topped the U.S. chart last year, too. In addition, Audiochuck’s “The Deck Investigates” landed at No. 3 on the list of the year’s new shows, and the company had the No. 2 most popular free podcast channel (after iHeartPodcasts).

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Rounding out the top five overall on Apple Podcasts were the New York Times’ “The Daily”; NBC’s “Dateline NBC”; Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett’s “SmartLess”‘ and “This American Life” hosted by Ira Glass.

Among shows that debuted this year, the No. 1 spot went to docu-series “Scamanda,” from Lionsgate Audio, which also ranked as the most-shared show on Apple Podcasts. The eight-episode, non-fiction limited series follows the bizarre story of a years-long scam perpetrated by influencer and blogger Amanda C. Riley — who ultimately pleaded guilty to soliciting more than $100,000 in donations to help pay for cancer treatments that she never received.

There’s a caveat with Apple Podcasts’ charts: The rankings do not count Spotify-exclusive shows including “The Joe Rogan Experience” and Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy”; both of those podcasts consistently place at or near the top of Spotify’s charts.

Here are the most popular podcasts and channels of the year in the U.S. on Apple Podcasts:

Top Shows of 2023

1. Crime Junkie

2. New York Times’ The Daily

3. Dateline NBC

4. SmartLess

5. This American Life

6. Morbid

7. NPR’s Up First

8. Huberman Lab

9. Hidden Brain

10. Stuff You Should Know

Top New Shows of 2023

1. Scamanda

2. The Retrievals

3. The Deck Investigates

4. Murder & Magnolias

5. Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus

6. The Girl in the Blue Mustang

7. The Coldest Case in Laramie

8. Murder in Apartment 12

9. The Girlfriends

10. Undetermined

Most Followed Shows of 2023

1. Huberman Lab

2. SmartLess

3. New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce

4. Scamanda

5. The Mel Robbins Podcast

6. Crime Junkie

7. The Retrievals

8. The Deck Investigates

9. Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus

10. On Purpose With Jay Shetty

Most Shared Shows of 2023

1. Scamanda

2. Sold a Story

3. The Retrievals

4. Huberman Lab

5. SmartLess

6. The Witch Trials of J.K Rowling

7. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra

8. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis Dreyfus

9. The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

10. True Sunlight

Most Shared Episodes of 2023

1. Huberman Lab: “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health”

2. Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus: “Julia Gets Wise With Jane Fonda”

3. The Daily: “The Fight Over Phonics”

4. Hidden Brain: “The Paradox of Pleasure”

5. Sold a Story: “The Problem”

6. The Mel Robbins Podcast: “The ‘Let Them Theory’: A Life Changing Mindset Hack That 15 Million People Can’t Stop Talking About”

7. The Retrievals: “The Patients”

8. We Can Do Hard Things With Glennon Doyle: “Why We Love the Way We Love: Attachment Styles with Dr. Becky Kennedy”

9. Just B With Bethenny Frankel: “Reality Reckoning: Rachel Leviss (Part One)”

10. Serial: “The Alibi”

Top Free Channels of 2023

1. iHeartPodcasts

2. Audiochuck

3. The New York Times

4. Dear Media

5. Serial Productions

6. Barstool Sports

7. ABC News

8. The Daily Wire

9. Scicomm Media

10. Cumulus Podcast Network

Top Subscription Channels of 2023

1. Wondery

2. Dateline NBC

3. Pushkin

4. iHeart True Crime

5. Lemonada

6. Tenderfoot TV

7. TED Audio Collective

8. Freakonomics Radio

9. Radiolab

10. BBC Podcasts

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