YouTube has become the UK’s leading podcast platform, overtaking Spotify for the first time, according to Edison Research. Among weekly podcast listeners aged 15 and older, 29% now cite YouTube as their preferred service, compared to 28% for Spotify.
The one-point difference is quite small, and Edison describes the result as a “first on record” rather than a new confirmed trend. Edison Research at SSRS previewed YouTube’s rapid rise to become the UK’s leading podcast service, ahead of a more detailed report due later this month.
What the data shows
Edison Trend Data shows the growth of YouTube in the UK over four key periods. In 2023, YouTube held 19% of the main platform’s share, increasing slightly to 20% in 2024, then 25% in 2025, and 29% in the first quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, Spotify’s share declined over the same period, starting at 33% in 2023, increasing slightly to 34% in 2024, then falling back to 30% in 2024. 2025, and finally up to 28% currently.
BBC Sounds is the third most used service, with 15% in the current reading, retaining this share from 2024 and 2025, after 13% in 2023. Apple Podcasts has 10%, a drop from 12% in 2023. The remaining apps are grouped into an “Other” category, which represents 18%.
Edison Podcast Metrics UK is based on interviews with 8,000 UK podcast listeners aged 15 and over each year. Edison did not disclose the sample size behind the first quarter 2026 reading.
The American crossover came first
YouTube reached the top of the podcast rankings in the US around two years before the UK. In Edison’s American Reading October 2024YouTube took 31% market share on the main platform among weekly podcast listeners aged 13 and over, compared to 27% for Spotify and 15% for Apple Podcasts. Edison tied much of the American trend to younger listeners and video, reporting that 84% of monthly Gen Z podcast listeners listen to or watch podcasts with a video component.
SEJ explained how YouTube reported over 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content and has become the most used platform by Americans. UK playback extends this same native video model to a second major market.
Why Edison says the UK is lagging behind the US
Edison emphasizes The presence of public media in the UK could explain why YouTube has grown more slowly in the UK than in the US. BBC Sounds attracts 15% of U.K. podcast consumers as its primary service, a level that Edison says is unrivaled among U.S. public media podcast offerings. A UK listener choosing from YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and BBC Sounds is evaluating a different set of options than a US listener choosing from the top three, which Edison explains as explaining why the two markets have evolved at different speeds.
Why it matters
The UK now looks like the US did two years ago, and the direction of Edison’s trend line matters more than the one-point margin. For a show deciding where to make its main home, YouTube is now the platform that accounts for the largest share of weekly listener names in the UK.
BBC Sounds is a cautionary tale when comparing the UK to the US. A UK plan based on US platform sharing assumptions underestimates the share of the domestic public that benefits from a public service option that the US market does not have. Edison’s data gives a UK-focused show reason to invest in video, as long as BBC Sounds’ stock stays in the model.
Looking to the future
Edison will host a webinar on July 16, 2026, at 2 p.m. BST and 9 a.m. EDT to present the full UK Podcast Consumer Report 2026. The session will also explore the UK public’s views on AI in podcasting, which will be of interest once the data is publicly available.
The lead is one point, and Spotify has fallen from 34% in 2024 to 28% now, while YouTube’s gains have held steady throughout the series. The following reading will allow us to know if the order holds beyond this first crossing.
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