Tracking Podcast Audience Growth for The Charlie Kirk Show
By Edison Research
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On September 10th, 2025, the assassination of Charlie Kirk drew widespread international attention, followed by viral online discourse, political action, and massive growth in his podcast’s audience.
Since Edison Podcast Metrics, fields every day, it can capture how political and current events impact the audience size and composition of specific podcast titles. As of Q3 2025, The Charlie Kirk Show has the 17th largest weekly podcast audience in the United States, up from 49th in the previous quarter. The show’s weekly audience has more than doubled from 793,000 Americans in Q2 to 1,838,000 Americans in Q3. Notably, much of the growth occurred after Kirk’s death, with just 20 days left before the end of the quarter.
These flashpoints and sudden spikes in listenership can change the fabric of a podcast’s audience composition, sometimes bringing in members demographically different than the existing audience. In this case, however, The Charlie Kirk Show consumer profile remained consistent with previous quarters, according to our findings.
The growth appears to have come primarily from Kirk’s base, particularly among self-identified Republicans. And despite Kirk’s reputation for rallying youth at college campuses, the majority of The Charlie Kirk Show consumers report being 55 and older. The show’s audience is also more likely to be retired compared to the average U.S. weekly podcast consumer.
With new episodes continuing posthumously and Erika Kirk promising to carry on her late husband’s legacy, future data will reveal if the show carries forward its Q3 momentum or attracts new podcast consumer segments. Make sure you subscribe to this weekly newsletter to stay connected to the biggest audio insights and learn more about Edison Podcast Metrics here.
Edison Research has released the Top 50 podcasts with the largest weekly audience from Q3 of 2025. The list ranks podcast titles on total audience reach among U.S. weekly podcast consumers 13+.
The top four podcasts remain in the same rank order as Q2 2025: The Joe Rogan Experience, Crime Junkie, The Daily, and Call Her Daddy. SmartLess moves up one spot from Q2 to round out the top five.
