The “Top Subscriber Shows” list includes 100 paid shows and the “Top Subscriber Channels” list has 100 paid channels with two or more shows. Apple first introduced paid podcast subscriptions last April and expanded to 170 countries later in the year. The company’s competitor Spotify also extended its podcast subscription program globally in November 2021.

The company also released information about the top five podcasts in all four countries. It also highlighted that all three top shows are by independent creators.

    U.S.: Morbid with Alaina Urquhart and Ashleigh Kelley is the most popular paid show in the country. That show is followed by Smartless, Something Was Wrong with Tiffany Reese, Fed Up with Casey Wilson, Marc Smerling’s series and Crooked City: Youngstown, OH, which are the top five subscriber shows in the U.S.
    U.K.: The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett is the top subscriber show in the U.K. No Such Thing As A Fish is the second most popular subscriber show in the country, followed by The Totally Football Show with James Richardson from The Athletic, Morbid and Kermode & Mayo’s Take, which debuted at No. 1 when it launched in May.
    Canada: Morbid, Smartless and Fed Up are the top three shows. The Canadian True Crime with Kristi Lee and BBC’s Global News Podcast takes fourth and fifth place on the charts.
    Australia: Casefile True Crime with “Casey” takes the No. 1 spot on Australian paid show charts. The Deep with Zoe Marshall is second in the rankings followed by Morbid, Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb and 7am with Ruby Jones from Schwartz Media.

Apple said that Wondery+ is the most popular channel subscription in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, while Hamish & Andy Unlimited is the top channel in Australia.

The company noted that 55% of top shows in these four markets are exclusively hosted by women, and 50% of top paid channels are independent publishers.

Apple and Spotify have been fighting it out to attract more podcasters to their platforms. Apple takes 30% fees for the first year of a subscription to a show, which drops down to 15% for the second year. On the other hand, Spotify takes a 5% cut only after two years.

While Spotify has been pouring a lot of money into its podcast business in hopes of future profits, Apple is trying out unique methods to compete. Last week, the iPhone maker reportedly signed a deal with Futuro Studios to make original podcasts and turn them into Apple TV+ shows.