It's been about a month since I last produced a list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts, so it's time once again to dive into the nebulous world of podcast rankings.
This month's list is virtually identical in both composition and ranking to the June chart, with one exception -- the inclusion of The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified. The WHYY-supported podcast (read an interview with its creator John Sheehan here) has been ranked highly since its debut in late June, and after a plug on Fresh Air reached the Top 20 of all iTunes podcasts. While its overall popularity on the nebulous iTunes chart has dipped (#140 as of this latest check), it's still doing well. (But not quite as well on Stitcher, which explains why it's only #3 on my chart below.)
I also said last month that I wanted to check whether the rankings of the kids podcasts within the iTunes and Stitcher kids and family charts are higher today than when I checked them last month. The verdict? Mixed -- some podcasts were higher, some were lower. What is an improvement is the number of podcasts on one of the two lists, 28 versus 22. In any case, I'll continue to monitor these figures as well.
As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons should not solely (or even primarily) be used as a measure of quality. (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.)
Two other reminders:
1. If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.
2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive. We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!
With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.
1. (tie) Brains On
1. (tie) Stories Podcast
3. Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified
4. Storynory
5. Story Pirates
6. Tumble
7. Story Time
8. Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
Others (listed alphabetically): Activated Stories, Audio Books for Children, Barefoot Books, But Why, CBeebies Radio, Children's Fun Storytime, Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids, Ear Snacks, Family Folk Tales, Little Stories for Tiny People, Molly and the Sugar Monster, Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Podcast Kid, Porters Podcast, The Secret Diaries of Tara Tremendous, Spare the Rock Spoil the Child, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show
