Who Listened to Charlie Kirk's Podcast

Charlie Kirk’s death got me wondering. Who was really listening to his podcast?

His show has topped the charts at Apple Podcasts since his death. So who was Kirk’s hardcore audience? His loyal fanbase? His passionate listeners?

Kirk was known for visiting universities and recruiting college kids for his Turning Point USA organization. So I was expecting to see his podcast attract that coveted 18-to-34 age group.

Instead, the 31-year-old Kirk attracted a much different demographic.

I took the new Triton Digital podcast ranker out for a test drive. I could see age, gender, political affiliation, education, household income, product preferences, and shopping behavior. And something caught my eye.

Kirk’s podcast audience actually skewed older.

As in 55+ for both men and women.

Basically, think talk radio.

Kirk had a show on the Salem Radio Network. So that may have pushed the traditional talk radio demographic to his podcast. He was also aligned with President Trump and the Republican Party. A Pew Research Center report last year found voters born in the 1960s (between ages 54 to 63) tend to be more closely aligned with the GOP during their lives. So these were likely Kirk’s primary podcast listeners.

And how did Kirk compare to other top podcasts in the News category?

Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar: Male 18+, Male 18-34 and Male 35-54.

The New Yorker’s Political Scene: Female 18-24 and Male 55+

This is Gavin Newsom: Female 55+

The Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Adults 55+ and Female 55+

MY RECOMMENDATION Triton Digital’s new podcast ranker uses IAB-certified data and offers deeper audience profiles. You can see some consumer behavior and advertisers get valuable insights. While not perfect, the ranker was easy to use. Wanna nerd out? Check out the ranker for yourself right here.