Producing podcasts has never have been more lucrative. For top-shelf creators, producers, distributors and platforms, podcasting may be an end in itself – or it can serve as a bridge to film, television, and publishing.

55 publishing groups with combined reported revenue for 2020 of nearly $68 billion are included in this year’s ranking. Total 2020 revenue is down about 6% from 2019, though a significant portion of that decline is owing to currency fluctuations.

“You’re not only a book buyer, consumer, reader, or a consumer of other media. What we saw in our data was that those that were avid in books were avid across other media,” says Dr. Rachel Noorda,