Are top podcasters fudging their numbers?

August 15, 2025

Bill Simmons, head of talk strategy at Spotify and a popular podcast host, called it out as one of the biggest challenges facing podcasting. “I’d say some of the bigger shows lying publicly about their deals, lying about their podcast numbers and lying about their YouTube subs (by paying for those subs). I can’t believe how many people are dishonest about this stuff…