The Nigerian Podcast Index now lists 604 shows, up from 329 in its previous edition. Only 268 of them, 44.4 per cent, are classed as active. The figures come from the index's own report and have not been independently audited.
The Nigerian Podcast Index (NPI) released its 2026 Industry Report on 1 October, International Podcast Day. According to the press release published on Podnews, the report documents "604 Nigerian and Nigerian-diaspora podcasts", an 83 per cent increase on the 329 shows in the previous edition. Airtime reported on that first count in July.
More shows, fewer still publishing
The headline growth needs care. The full report says the expansion "reflects both genuine new creation and improved discovery and cataloguing of existing shows". So the index grew by 275 shows, but this does not mean Nigeria gained 275 new podcasts in a year.
The status figures explain why. Active shows rose from 241 to 268. Shows on hiatus, meaning no recent episodes but a feed that still works, rose from 86 to 334, or 55.3 per cent of the index. The report says "a substantial portion of the newly indexed volume consists of older or discontinued programmes". In 2025, 73.3 per cent of indexed shows were active. In 2026 that share is 44.4 per cent. Airtime looked at the dormant quarter of the earlier count in July; the dormant share is now more than half.
"Creation has scaled. Sustainability has not kept pace," said Tony Onwuchekwa, known as Tony Doe, who founded the index and wrote the report.
One platform still dominates
Spotify for Creators, formerly Anchor, hosts 385 indexed shows, or 63.7 per cent, up from about 59 per cent a year earlier. The index counts more than 36 hosting platforms, but African-native services, mainly Afripods and Jamit, account for roughly 3.5 per cent. The report warns that "a single platform's policy, pricing or product changes can affect the majority of the indexed ecosystem".
Diaspora production has also grown. About 97 shows, 16 per cent of the index, are produced outside Nigeria or tagged to international locations, up from about 36. The largest international hubs are the United States (38), the United Kingdom (24) and Canada (14).
What it means for creators and brands
Society and culture (172 shows), religion and spirituality (108) and business (73) remain the largest categories. Only two shows are tagged true crime. English accounts for about 93 per cent of production.
The report also measures how easy shows are to reach. Only 60.4 per cent list a contact email, and 24.3 per cent give neither an email nor a social handle. Its advice to creators is to "publish clear contact information" and to "move up the platform tier where possible", because professional hosting offers better analytics and distribution options.
The limits of the data
This is a single, self-published source. The report describes the NPI as "an open-access, community-maintained index" and says it "is not a census of every Nigerian podcast". Coverage depends on shows that are submitted, discovered and verified through a working RSS feed. Status labels are a snapshot and can change. Airtime has not checked the dataset independently.