Topline
More people tuned in to watch the first hour of pop star Taylor Swift’s appearance and new album announcement on the “New Heights” podcast than watched the first hour of Donald Trump’s “Joe Rogan Experience” appearance, but Trump’s episode is still winning the overall viewership game—for now.
Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025.
TNS
Key Facts
Swift on Wednesday spent two hours being interviewed by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his brother Jason on their sports podcast “New Heights,” which was live streamed on YouTube and reached a peak concurrent viewership of 1.3 million in the first hour and then briefly crashed the stream in the second hour.
By comparison, Trump’s appearance on Rogan’s podcast was watched 800,000 times in the first hour, according to CNN, but that episode, which was three hours long, gained more steam in the hours after it was posted.
Within the first 12 hours, Trump’s episode had racked up 11 million views compared to Swift’s almost 9 million (Swift’s reached 11 million views by the 19-hour mark).
Rogan’s Trump interview, which has been available on YouTube for nine months, has been watched 59 million times.
Spotify on Thursday said the “New Heights” episode has already become one of its most popular podcasts of the last year, saying Swift drove up listenership to “New Heights” by 3,000% and increased the number of female listeners, which already made up a majority of the “New Heights” audience, by 618%.
The episode is already the most watched on the “New Heights” YouTube channel, topping appearances by Kylie Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
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Tangent
Trump has repeatedly attacked Swift since she spoke out against his presidency in his first term and endorsed both Biden in 2020 and Harris in 2024. Most recently, in early August, he called Swift “woke,” said he “can’t stand” her and said she was “NO LONGER HOT,” in a post praising actress Sydney Sweeney for being a registered Republican. A Navigator Research poll conducted the week after, from Aug. 7 to 11, reportedly showed Swift’s popularity with Republicans has dropped 22% in the last two years. In August 2024, Trump re-shared AI-generated images that falsely indicated Swift had endorsed him for president, stating: “I accept!” After Swift endorsed Harris, Trump told “Fox & Friends,” “I’m not a Taylor Swift fan,” and he again criticized Swift in February after the Super Bowl. Swift attended the game to support Kelce and was met with some boos when shown on a jumbotron. “The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift. She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Key Background
Taylor Swift’s team teased her “next era” in a post on Monday and sent fans into a frenzy speculating the singer would soon announce her 12th studio album. The Kelce brothers then teased a “special episode with a VERY special guest” premiering Wednesday. She then launched a countdown on her website and announced at 12:12 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 12, that “The Life of a Showgirl” is the title of her next project. She revealed the album cover on the “New Heights” podcast Wednesday. The album will have 12 songs and Swift said “it comes from the most infectious, joyful, wild and dramatic place I was at in my life. That effervescence comes through.” She said she recorded the album in Sweden during breaks of the Eras Tour’s European leg. Her podcast appearance was one of her longest and most candid interviews ever and the live stream of the podcast on YouTube glitched out at the one-hour-and-45-minute mark (it was still streaming live on Spotify during the YouTube glitch). The episode was later posted in full.
Crucial Quote
“Swifties so powerful we broke the internet,” WNBA star Caitlin Clark wrote in a post on X.
Forbes Valuation
Swift was ranked as the No. 2,310th richest person in the world as of Thursday with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. She became a billionaire in October 2023 thanks to the earnings from her Eras Tour and the value of her music catalog and is the musician to make the Forbes billionaire ranking primarily based on her songs and performances. She ranks No. 21 on this. year’s list of the richest self-made women in America.