Podcast Explore makes it easy to create a variety of filtered and aggregated reports across several dimensions. For example, you can split by Program, episode, and device family, or you can split by Program, device family, and episode. The data for both is the same, but the way it's presented is different. You can include up to six dimensions in a report, in any order. You can also export your reports to an Excel file.
Important: Podcast Explore is accessed from the https://metrics.tritondigital.com domain. Be sure to allow that domain if your web browser uses an ad blocker.
The on-screen report shows a maximum of 500 rows. Exported reports show a maximum of 100,000 rows.
The Podcast Explore user interface is responsive and easy to use. The descriptions in this user guide will help you get started, but the best thing to do is navigate through the application, seeing how the various elements work together to create insightful reports that you create according to your needs and interests.
Users of Omny Studio should see this note about selecting podcasts in Podcast Explore.
Overview of the Podcast Explore interface
Query Builder. Select the publisher/market/program, choose a date range, add optional additional filters, and set up your metrics and dimensions.
Selection management area. What appears here depends on what you have selected in the Query Builder.
Report area. This is where the reports you create appear. Reports are sorted by Downloads. The on-screen report shows a maximum of 500 rows.
Creating Reports with the Query Builder
The basic steps for creating a report in Podcast Explore are:
In the Query Builder, choose the Content Filter (publisher market, program, or lineup).
Select the date range for the report.
Add any additional filters you want.
Select the metrics that you wish to view from the drop-down menu (or remove metrics that are already selected).
Build out your splits by selecting one or more dimensions from the drop-down menu (up to six).
Run the report to see it in the report area.
Example report showing podcast statistics for three dimensions (sorted by Downloads)
Choosing a Date Range
Podcast Explore requires a date range. When you click the date range indicator the Date Range panel appears, where you can choose a range such as "Last 7 Days" or "Last Week," or specify a custom range. Click Apply or Apply and Run to apply the date range.
The date range and time dimension settings in TAP and Webcast Metrics are based on station timezone. Those settings in TAP Explore, TAP Affidavits, Podcast Explore, and Lineup Explore are based on UTC.
Click the Date Range indicator...
...the Date Range panel appears.
Select a date range preset or a custom range.
Click "Apply" or "Apply and Run."
Date range definitions
Preset | Definition |
|---|---|
Yesterday | The day before the current day. |
Last 7 Days | The seven days preceding the last day for which there is data. |
Last Week | The calendar week preceding the last day for which there is data. |
Last 30 Days | The 30 days preceding the last day for which there is data. |
Last Month | The calendar month preceding the last day for which there is data. |
Last 90 Days | The 90 days preceding the last day for which there is data. |
Selecting from the Content Filter and Optional Filters
Use the Content Filter to filter your query results by publisher (if you have access to more than one publisher), by market (if you have defined different markets). You can also filter by programs or lineups. You can select multiple items within a content filter category (e.g., within the Programs category you can select one or more programs), but you cannot select from multiple categories (i.e., you cannot select both a program and a lineup).
Access the Content Filter panel by clicking the first item in the filter row. Select either the Publisher, Market, Program, or Lineup tab, then choose the specific item(s) you want.
Click the first item in the filter bar…
…the Content Filter panel appears in the selection management area.
Select the "Publisher," "Market," "Program" or "Lineup" tab…
…then select the item you want at the top level of your report. (You can select more than one item from the chosen category.)
Click "Apply and Run."
(Optional) Click "Add new" to add additional filters.*
(Optional) Add or remove Metrics from the drop-down menu.*
(Optional) Add or remove Dimensions from the drop-down menu.*
* Click "Run" to re-run the report if you change the filters, metrics, or dimensions.
Available Optional Filters and Dimensions
Click to see the list of available optional filters. (List is subject to change.)
The list below includes both filters and dimensions. Some items only appear as dimensions.
Filter/Dimension | Description |
|---|---|
CDN | The content delivery network for the podcast(s). |
CMS | The content management system for the podcast(s). |
Country | The country of the listener. |
DMA | The listener's DMA (Designated Market Area), by name. Only applicable in the U.S. |
DMA Code | The listener's DMA (Designated Market Area) code number. Only applicable in the U.S. |
Data Source | The data source for the podcast(s). (Returns either "Triton Digital" and/or "3rd Party.") |
Day | The day (e.g., "Wednesday Dec 4 2024"). |
Device | The listener's actual device, such as an iPad or Android device. (See note, below.*) |
Device Family | The listener's device family, such as "Mobile Device" or "Smart Speaker." (See note, below.*) |
Distributor | The distributor that is passed in the URL query in the dist parameter. (See the Knowledge Base article "How to get 'Distributor' statistics for podcasts.") |
Episode GUID | The episide GUID, as pulled from the podcast’s RSS feed. (See the Measurement Guide for Podcasts for more information on using GUID.) |
Episode ID | The episode ID. |
Episode Title | The episode of the program (podcast), by title. |
MSA | The listener's MSA (Triton Metro Streaming Area). Only applicable in the U.S. (See MSA Usage Notes, below.) |
MSA Code | The listener's MSA (Triton Metro Streaming Area) code number. Only applicable in the U.S. (See MSA Usage Notes, below.) |
Market/Network L1 | The network or market first level. |
Market/Network L2 | The network or market second level. |
Month | The month (e.g., "Month of December 2024"). |
Player | The listener's specific player, such as "iTunes" or "Stitcher." (See note, below.*) |
Player Family | The listener's player family, such as "Podcast Player" or "Web Player."(See note, below.*) |
Podcast (Feed) | The different feeds of your podcast program. If you have more than one feed (e.g., a main feed with the podcast episodes, plus a second feed containing only the interviews), this dimension breaks them down separately. |
Podcast ID | The podcast ID. |
Published Date | The publication date of the podcast. |
Publisher | The publisher name. |
RSS Feed | RSS feed of the podcast. |
Region | The geographical region of the listener (such as the state or province). Not all countries have defined regions. |
Category | The category label, as read from the RSS feed using itunes:category. If you have applied more than one category to your podcast, Podcast Explore uses the first one you applied. For example, if you applied the categories Fiction, Comedy, and Art, in that order, Podcast Explore uses Fiction. Note 1: If your program contains multiple RSS feeds using different categories, your metrics for that program will be split according to that number of categories. To avoid this, use the same category for all RSS feeds from the same program. Note 2: If you are using Omny Studio, be sure to use the same categories at the Program level and the Playlist (podcast) level, to avoid splitting your metrics. |
Subcategory | The subcategory label, as read from the RSS feed using itunes:subcategory. If you have applied more than one subcategory to your podcast, Podcast Explore uses the first one you applied. For example, if you applied the subcategories Soccer, Football, and Baseball, in that order (within the Sports category), Podcast Explore uses Soccer. Note 1: If your program contains multiple RSS feeds using different subcategories, your metrics for that program will be split according to that number of subcategories. To avoid this, use the same subcategory for all RSS feeds from the same program. Note 2: If you are using Omny Studio, be sure to use the same subcategories at the Program level and the Playlist (podcast) level, to avoid splitting your metrics. |
Week | The week (e.g., "Week of June 2 2025"). |
Dimensions that originate from the listener's user agent might include some variability because user agents do not always return an exact match (i.e., a particular device or player might go by two or more different names).
Also note: in the Player dimension, "iTunes" refers to the iTunes desktop app; podcast downloads via mobile iTunes is reported as "iOS unspecified App."
Selecting Metrics
By default, Downloads, Listeners, Downloaded Hours, and Avg. Downloads per Listener are selected. Open the drop-down menu to select additional metrics, or click the "x" on a selected metric to remove it. The Metrics drop-down menu works the same way as the Dimensions drop-down menu.
For more information, see Metrics Definitions, Podcast Metrics.
The Listeners metric is calculated dynamically using an approximation methodology due to the cardinality of the many available dimensions. From one query to another, the typical variance is +/-3%. Therefore, Listeners can't be perfectly compared across queries and dimensions.
Adding/Selecting Dimensions
You can split your podcast metrics by up to six dimensions.
If you list more than one dimension and the first in your list is time-based, the resulting data is sorted by that time dimension. Otherwise, data is sorted by downloads.
To add or change a dimension:
Click the Dimensions drop-down list to reveal the options.
Select dimensions in the order in which you want them to appear in the report.
To re-arrange dimensions, un-select on the drop-down list and re-select in the order you prefer.
an existing dimension in the dimension bar to change it or click + Add New to add a new dimension.
Click Run.
Available Dimensions
See Available Optional Filters and Dimensions, above.
Using Run, Apply, and Apply and Run
There are several ways to apply changes in the query builder and to run the report. The option you choose depends on your context.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Run | The Run button appears in the Query Builder. Use it to submit changes and re-run a report after you change a filter or dimension. You can also use this button to run a report if you have closed the Selection Management Area without having clicked Apply and Run. |
| Apply | Click the Apply button in the Selection Management Area to apply your selection (filter or dimension) without running the report. Use this when you plan on adding several filters or dimensions. It saves you time because you don't have to wait for the report to generate before you select the next item. |
| Apply and Run | Use Apply and Run when you have selected the last item from the Selection Management Area and you are ready to run the report. |
MSA Usage Notes
MSA (Metro Streaming Area) is a Triton Digital-defined region for measuring demographics in the United States. It is used primarily for densely populated urban areas; not every address in the United States falls into a Triton MSA, and some addresses overlap into two Triton MSAs (such as some addresses in New York state which fall under both the New York MSA and the Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island) MSA).
To avoid duplicate data when using MSA in a report, you should either filter by MSA or split by MSA dimension, but not both (there is no deduplication process). Also, you should not aggregate MSA results, as you could be counting some listeners twice due to market boundaries that overlap.
Sorting
Reports can be sorted by columns. (See the sorting usage notes.)
Saving and Scheduling Queries
Once you have built your query you can save it for future reference. This makes it quick and easy to run the same type of query at a later time, or to schedule it to run automatically. Saved queries appear on the Saved Queries list. For more information, see Saving and Scheduling Queries.
Query ID and Metrics API
You can save and retrieve queries in Triton Streaming Explore, Podcast Explore, Lineup Explore, Tap Explore, and Tap Affidavit. Every saved query has a query ID that you can use to send the resulting data to your business intelligence (BI) applications via the Triton Metrics API.
Important! The Triton Metrics API can only access queries that were saved by the same user who created the queries. Be sure to log in with your Triton Metrics API access username before saving queries, and when you want to retrieve query IDs and use the API. For more information, see Using the Query ID and Metrics API.