The podcasting community experienced a massive shift this week as Taylor Swift made her debut appearance on New Heights. It catapulted the NFL-focused show to the top of Spotify’s charts, displacing longtime king Joe Rogan from his throne.
The Kelce brothers’ podcast achieved what many thought impossible, overtaking The Joe Rogan Experience across multiple Spotify rankings including Top Episodes, Trending Podcasts, and the Sports category. The episode, which dropped on August 13, also surpassed other shows like Good Hang with Amy Poehler and The Mel Robbins Podcast.
Swift’s podcast appearance wasn’t just a casual chat—she used the platform to announce her highly anticipated next album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
The numbers tell the story of Swift’s unprecedented impact on the medium. New Heights accumulated over 8 million views on TikTok alone for the album announcement clip, followed by another 8 million views when Swift revealed the complete tracklist. YouTube proved even more massive, with the video version racking up over 15 million views in record time.
Industry observers are now speculating whether the episode could shatter the current Guinness World Record for most-watched podcast episode on YouTube, which stands at just over 110 million views.
This isn’t the first time the Kelce family has disrupted Rogan’s dominance on Spotify. Jason Kelce’s wife, Kylie, previously dethroned The Joe Rogan Experience with her podcast “Not Gonna Lie” after just a single episode in 2024.
The episode’s success extends far beyond streaming numbers. New Heights dominated the Sports podcast category, outperforming established ones like Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take, The Bill Simmons Podcast, and Fantasy Footballers.
The crossover appeal of New Heights proved magnetic, drawing Swifties into the sports podcast ecosystem while simultaneously elevating the Kelce brothers’ profile among mainstream entertainment audiences.
