Goalhanger, an independent podcast company co-founded by Gary Lineker, saw its highest number of downloads ever between May and July.
The increase was driven by increased global interest in shows such as “The Rest Is Politics” and “The Rest Is Football.”
Between 22 May and 5 July, The Rest Is Politics and its sister show Leading, hosted by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, achieved a combined 21.6 million downloads and views of all episodes on YouTube.
Additionally, the programme aired as part of Channel 4's general election coverage, at the end of which Alastair and Rory joined the channel to provide election night analysis, reaching a further million viewers.
The Rest Is Football, which features Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, saw its popularity soar during the Euros from June 14 to July 16, with total downloads and views of all episodes on YouTube exceeding 19.6 million.
Goal Hunger shows have thrived on social media, with 'The Rest Is Football' reaching over 66 million views across all platforms during the Euros and 'The Rest Is Politics' reaching over 22 million views across all platforms during the UK election period.
Other Goal Hanger shows include “The Rest Is History”, hosted by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, who recently released acclaimed series on “The Road to World War I” and “The French Revolution” and announced a second book with Bloomsbury, and “The Rest Is Entertainment”, hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde, which has consistently topped the UK podcast charts, with most of Goal Hanger's shows rarely dropping out of the top 15 this year.
“These figures indicate that 2024 will be the year Goalhanger evolves from an audio production company into a mass media publisher, speaking to tens of millions of people around the world,” said Jack Davenport, co-founder of Goalhanger.
“We want to reach our audience wherever they consume content. Whether they prefer podcasting, YouTube or social media, traditional TV or print, we're there.”
GoalHunger co-founder Tony Pastor added: “The success of our shows proves that the idea that the so-called TikTok generation only wants short-form content is a myth.
“Half of our audience is under the age of 33, and they enjoy long, intelligent conversations discussing everything from history to politics, sports and entertainment.
“In the run-up to the election, The Rest Is Politics aired every day and recorded over 700,000 audio downloads per episode as people loved Rory and Alastair's insights.
“We were able to act agile and jump onto YouTube to quickly respond to breaking news, which was really well received by our viewers.
“Similarly, The Rest is Football saw Gary, Alan and Micah reacting to the match as fans and commentators, which really resonated with viewers and listeners.”
Gary Lineker, co-presenter of The Rest Is Football and co-founder of Goalhanger, said: “Hosting The Rest Is Football with Alan and Mika during the Euros has been fantastic.
“The fan response was fantastic and it was fun sharing laughs, stories and insights about the highs and lows of the event.
“Everyone has an opinion on any big tournament and our listeners and viewers appreciate the insightful discussion mixed with humor. We look forward to more episodes airing as the new Premier League season approaches.”
Alastair Campbell, co-host of The Rest is Politics, said: “It gives me hope that so many people have tuned in to our show during the general election.
“Rory and I aim to be a voice of balanced debate and real clarity amid the constant noise of 24-hour news broadcasts and we are delighted that audiences have responded so positively to it.
“Although exhausting, finishing the campaign as official co-presenter of Channel 4's overnight election coverage, which ended in a landslide victory for Labour, felt like a real milestone in a busy period for The Rest is Politics.”
