YouTube Still Tops Edison Podcast Metrics as Netflix Enters Top 10

YouTube remains the most-used platform among U.S. weekly podcast consumers in Edison Research’s Q3 2026 Podcast Metrics, while Netflix has entered the top 10 for the first time, Barrett Media reported Oct. 8. SSRS, home to Edison Research’s weekly insights, published the same ranking on Oct. 7.

According to Barrett Media and SSRS, Spotify ranks second at 17% of weekly podcast consumers who name it their most-used platform, and Apple Podcasts sits third at 9%. Netflix lands seventh at 3% — a small primary-platform share that still marks the streamer’s first year carrying podcasts and its first appearance in Edison’s most-used list.

SSRS noted that the platform ranking has changed dramatically over time as YouTube’s podcast inventory remade the ecosystem. Barrett Media compared the Q3 2026 reading with Edison’s October 2024 U.S. snapshot, when YouTube stood at 31%, Spotify at 27% and Apple Podcasts at 15%, underscoring share erosion for the audio-first incumbents even as YouTube’s lead holds.

Both outlets stressed what the 3% Netflix figure does and does not show. SSRS said the number only measures consumers who call Netflix their most-used podcast platform, not all podcast listening or watching that happens on the service. Barrett Media likewise flagged that it remains unclear which titles drive Netflix’s share and how audio-versus-video splits look on Spotify and Apple, which also offer video podcasts.

For creators and distributors, Barrett Media’s takeaway was blunt: video matters, YouTube is the default destination for new shows, and Netflix is another video-first rival worth watching. Audio-first platforms face pressure to adapt as discovery and listening keep shifting toward video and search surfaces.

Edison Podcast Metrics is produced with SSRS survey data and released quarterly to subscribers. The Q3 2026 most-used ranking lands in the same news cycle as other platform moves in podcasting, but the dual Barrett Media and SSRS reports treat the YouTube lead and Netflix’s top-10 entry as the hard news peg rather than any single show deal.

The ranking arrives as podcast listening keeps splitting across apps that treat shows as video as much as audio. Barrett Media argued that creators launching new shows increasingly treat YouTube as the default distribution surface, while Netflix’s entry into the most-used list — even at 3% — signals that a major streamer can register as a primary destination within a year of carrying podcasts. SSRS framed the same shift as an ecosystem story: YouTube’s inventory changed where weekly consumers say they go most often, and Spotify and Apple remain large but no longer dominate the “most-used” answer the way they did earlier in the decade.

Neither Barrett Media nor SSRS claimed the survey measures total hours or revenue. Both stressed the most-used question as a preference share among weekly podcast consumers, which helps explain why Netflix can sit in the top 10 without yet matching YouTube’s scale. For publishers and advertisers watching platform concentration, the dual reports still matter: video-first surfaces are capturing primary-platform mindshare, and Edison’s quarterly series is tracking that move in public.

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Verification: YouTube No. 1 ranking, Spotify 17%, Apple Podcasts 9%, Netflix seventh at 3%, October 2024 comparison figures and video-first framing come from Barrett Media (John Mamola, Oct. 8, 2026). Platform-order confirmation, Netflix caveat on most-used versus total consumption and Edison/SSRS methodology notes are from SSRS / Edison Research Weekly Insights (Oct. 7, 2026).