September's key figures
On 13 October 2026, Médiamétrie published the September results of its EAR > Podcast measurement. Over the month, more than 168 million French podcasts were streamed or downloaded worldwide, 138 million of them from France. The ratings institute points out that, because of a change in methodology, these results cannot be compared with those of the former eStat podcast measurement.
The ranking by publisher brand puts France Inter on top with 41.5 million listens and downloads, just ahead of RTL (39.1 million). France Culture (25.3 million) and RMC (22.6 million) complete a leading group of four, well clear of Europe 1 (13.6 million). Next come franceinfo (6.2 million), France Télévisions (5.9 million), Radio Classique (3.5 million), ICI (2.1 million) and France Musique (almost 2 million). Nineteen brands appear in the table, the last of them, Mouv', with 60,000 listens.
Les Grosses Têtes far ahead
Among programmes, RTL's Les Grosses Têtes podcast crushes the competition with nearly 17.9 million listens and downloads, almost double RMC's L'After Foot (9.9 million). France Inter's Affaires sensibles (6.5 million), Europe 1's Hondelatte raconte (4.5 million) and RTL's L'heure du crime (3.8 million) round out the top five.
The top of the chart is dominated by on-air shows repurposed as podcasts, as full episodes, clips or best-of compilations. Storytelling, whether historical or focused on criminal cases, also does very well: Hondelatte raconte, L'heure du crime, Entrez dans l'histoire, Au cœur du crime and Radio Classique's Les Grands Dossiers de l'Histoire all feature in the top 15.
A log-based measurement
EAR > Podcast counts audio content that is streamed or downloaded, regardless of format, device or app. The data comes from server logs supplied by subscribing publishers and their hosting providers to ACPM, the technical partner in charge of auditing them, and is then filtered according to IAB Tech Lab standards.
The system is not immune to anomalies. This month, Google News Audio Briefings generated unusual volumes of log entries for franceinfo's Fil info and for Le Journal RTL, leading Médiamétrie to apply statistical modelling to neutralise these technical requests. A similar correction was applied to RCF after abnormal results on a single day.
What it means for webradios
- A ranking limited to large groups. Only eight subscribers are measured: France Télévisions, Lagardère, the M6-RTL group, Radio France, Radio Classique, Maison FG, RMC BFM and RCF. Independent stations and webradios do not appear, which does not mean they have no podcast audience.
- Catch-up works. The best scores go to shows that have already aired. For a webradio, cutting its flagship shows into episodes and publishing full versions and clips is a simple way to extend a programme's life beyond the live broadcast.
- Reliable figures are a commercial asset. The Google News episode shows that an aggregator can artificially inflate statistics. A hosting provider whose stats apply IAB filters lets you show advertisers credible data.
- Storytelling attracts listeners. History, investigations and crime stories are among the most popular themes. These formats are within reach of small teams, provided the writing and the publishing rhythm are carefully maintained.
These results complete the picture of digital radio listening in France: live streaming on one side, on-demand podcasts on the other, two uses in which the broadcast often remains the starting point.
Source: Médiamétrie