Triton Digital’s Podcast Reports list the top podcasts in specified regions, as measured by Triton’s Podcast Metrics measurement service. Podcast Reports are based on a four-week reporting period. The entities listed are ranked by Average Weekly Downloads (Monday to Sunday) in accordance with the IAB Tech Lab's Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines. Reported publishers must opt-in to the public release of their metrics.
Rules for Inclusion and Handling of Data Issues
Triton Digital’s country and regional public-facing Podcast Reports serve as an important vehicle to bring attention to the podcast industry, to demonstrate its growth, and to assist advertising sales. To provide these insights, it is important to define what is eligible to be included in the public reports, to collect data on a timely basis, and to create guidelines for how to handle atypical circumstances.
The following processes, rules, and guidelines have been created to support these goals. We ask that all clients and their hosting providers support a consistent approach to data collection methods and timelines. This document intends to provide full transparency to the processes that have been put in effect; however, we recognize that the podcast landscape is changing rapidly, and that unforeseen situations may need to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
What is a Network?
Participating networks include content owners/creators and sales representation organizations. Networks have the option to have their downloads and listeners aggregated into another entity to which they have specifically delegated advertising sales responsibilities, such as a third-party sales house, sales representation firm, or sales network. In addition, the network may have its downloads and listeners reported separately.
What is a Podcast?
The IAB supports the following definition of a podcast:
“A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files which a user can download and listen to. It is often available for subscription, so that new episodes are automatically downloaded via web syndication to the user’s own local computer, mobile application, or portable media player.”
Triton Digital supports that definition. However, we also acknowledge that the ways to distribute and consume podcasts have expanded. For example, podcast content does not always have to be available for subscription, it can be streamed as well as downloaded, and it can be distributed through any variety of devices and platforms (mobile apps, web players, smart speakers, etc.).
To be included in the public-facing Triton Digital Podcast Reports, podcasts should fit within the following guidelines:
- The podcast feed must include multiple episodes over the course of a year.
- The episodes shall normally adhere to at least one of the following models:
- Be part of a scripted or unscripted original podcast show. For example:
- “Revisionist History” from Radio.com/Cadence13
- “Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories” from Stitcher/Midroll
- “Business Wars” from Wondery
- Be grouped around a common Radio Program/Show. For example:
- “The Mark Levin Show” from Cumulus/Westwood One
- “Kevin in the Morning with Allie & Jensen” from KROQ-FM Los Angeles / Radio.com
- Be grouped around a common news coverage or talk show, released periodically, including short duration news briefings. For example:
- “Morning Joe” from NBC News / Wondery
- “NPR News Now” from NPR
- Be part of a scripted or unscripted original podcast show. For example:
The following examples would not fit our definition of podcast:
- A group of unrelated audio clips, or a group of audio clips from a web page, that do not follow a theme or a periodic release. For example, a newspaper that includes unrelated audio clips on their web site or application and would like all of them to be measured in aggregate as a single podcast.
- Audiobooks.
Automatic Plays or Downloads of Content
- Auto-play and pre-cached audio files on a website: For measurement, it is requested that publishers do not have podcast content that automatically plays upon visiting a website, and do not pre-cache content. This helps ensure that Podcast Metrics can report downloads intended by the listener which are greater than one minute in length. This is consistent with the guidance in the IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement V2.1 Guidelines. In cases where auto-play of content occurs that does not reflect a user’s intent to download/listen, the publisher/network client should notify Triton Digital of such practices whenever possible.
- Automatically downloading of a back-catalog library of podcast content: Podcasts that include automatic downloading of a library of past podcast content, without a user’s intent to download that content, should not be included in measurement. In cases where auto-downloading is known to be in effect, the publisher/network should notify Triton Digital of such practices.
Timing to Provide Data
- Existing publishers: The deadline for existing publishers to provide current reporting period data is four business days after the download has occurred. If missed, then the podcast may be excluded from being listed in the public Podcast Report for that period.
- New publishers: For new publisher clients, measurement will start on the first day of activation. This is likely to result in partial data for the first reporting period. It is the publisher’s choice to be included in that period’s report, with only a partial period of download data available for reporting, or to wait to be included in the next (full) reporting period.
- Changes to content hosting provider: Advanced notice should be provided to Triton Digital, preferably at least 30 days in advance, of the transition to a new hosting provider. Changes to a hosting provider usually results in downloads through two hosting companies during the reporting period of the transition. Downloads for the first portion of the reporting period come from the old hosting provider, and the remainder of the reporting period come from the new hosting provider. Triton Digital will do its best to accommodate these changes by manually adding the downloads together, if no other data issues are caused by this migration.
Data Issues
- Large spikes in downloads and other unusual traffic: Triton Digital retains the right to review any unusual and/or suspicious download numbers. In some cases, circumstances may require the exclusion of certain data, or the removal of an entire podcast from the public podcast reports. This can occur on a temporary basis until the review has been completed. The traffic could also be removed on a permanent basis if Triton Digital finds that the audio content should not be eligible for inclusion. In such cases, an explanation will be provided to the participating network/publisher client.
- Missing data or missing podcasts: In some cases, the raw podcast logs Triton Digital receives have certain data omitted inadvertently. Triton Digital works with hosting providers and third-party CDNs to provide training, which helps to identify and/or prevent potential data issues in advance. When issues do arise, they must be fixed within two weeks after the end of the reporting period. If the issue cannot be fixed within that time period, data will either be reported without adjustment and with a footnote explaining the issue, or excluded from reporting in the case of larger data issues.
- Re-syncing of feeds or re-publishing or episodes: Some cases, such as changing hosting providers or changing the audio URL of a podcast feed, will cause apps to automatically download old episodes of a podcast. This results in inflated download numbers. These situations should be avoided if possible. However, if they do occur, notification of such an issue should be provided to Triton Digital. In such cases, Triton Digital will attempt to remove the download data in question.
The reporting dates schedule for Triton Digital Podcast Reports can be found on the Triton Digital web site, on the Podcast Reports page (under “Resources”).