The State of Podcasting 2026

How long are true crime podcasts?

The typical top-charting true crime podcast runs 44 minutes an episode: that is the median of 67 shows' own medians, from 3,780 episodes released in the 12 months to 2 October 2026. Shorter than the all-chart figure of 50 minutes, it ranks 8th longest of 11 categories. Most episodes (55%) run 30 to 60 minutes.

By the Slice research teamUpdated How we did it

Get this page’s dataThe State of Podcasting 2026
  • 44 mintypical show’s median episode
  • 27%of episodes run over an hour
  • 4.4episodes a month, median show
  • 8th of 11categories, longest first

How long is the typical true crime episode?

Across all 3,780 true crime episodes, the median is 44.6 minutes and the middle half run 34 to 62 minutes. Only a tenth run past 78 minutes.

Show
90th percentile78.075th percentile61.7Median episode44.6Median of show medians44.225th percentile34.010th percentile25.6
Full episodes released in the 12 months to 2 October 2026, in minutes.
10th percentile25.610.1
25th percentile34.022.8
Median episode44.641.8
75th percentile61.761.7
90th percentile78.092.7
Median of show medians44.249.9
Under 30 minutes17.8%30 to 60 minutes55%Over an hour27.2%

Are true crime podcasts longer than other categories?

It sits in the middle: 8th of 11, between arts (47 min) and business (40 min).

Comedy66 minTV & Film62 minSports57 minTechnology54 minSociety & Culture54 minHealth & Fitness53 minArts47 minTrue Crime44 minThis pageBusiness40 minEducation37 minNews35 min

Median of each show's own median length. Categories with at least 40 charting shows.

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How often do true crime podcasts publish?

The median true crime show publishes 4.4 episodes a month (all chart shows: 7.2). 32% are weekly and 0% daily. The most common schedule among the 69 charting true crime shows is weekly (22).

3–4 a week6 shows (9%)Twice a week12 shows (17%)Weekly22 shows (32%)Less than weekly14 shows (20%)Irregular7 shows (10%)Fewer than 3 in six months5 shows (7%)New (under four weeks old)3 shows (4%)

Schedule over the last 182 days of each feed.

How long are the top true crime podcasts?

The ten highest on Apple's US True Crime chart, with each show's median episode. Across all 67 charting true crime shows the range runs from The disappearance of Katie Walker (22 min) to Murder In America (101 min).

Show
363 min763 min959 min151 min647 min1043 min540 min233 min832 min425 min
Apple Podcasts US True Crime chart, 2 October 2026.
1Crime Junkie51 min5.3
2Dateline NBC33 min12.9
3Morbid63 min9.9
4The Woman in the Woods25 minn/a
548 Hours40 min20.1
6Betrayal Season 647 min3.5
7My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark63 min14.1
8MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories32 min16.2
9In The Dark59 min0.5
1020/2043 min16.7

How many true crime podcasts are there?

The Podcast Index lists 16,439 shows filed under True Crime, 0.4% of all podcasts. 2,234 of them published in the 90 days to 26 September 2026: 13.6% of the category, a higher survival rate than the 9.4% for all podcasts.

Questions

How long should a true crime podcast be?

There is no rule, but the top-charting true crime shows have a median episode of 44 minutes, and half of their episodes run between 34 and 62 minutes.

How many episodes a month do true crime podcasts release?

The median charting true crime show released 4.4 episodes a month over the last six months; 0% published daily and 32% weekly.

What share of true crime podcast episodes are over an hour?

27.2% of the 3,780 true crime episodes released in the past year ran over 60 minutes, and 17.8% were under 30.

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Where do these numbers come from?

Slice, The State of Podcasting 2026: the RSS feed of every show on Apple Podcasts' top charts in six countries and eleven US genre charts, read on 2 October 2026. Category counts from the Podcast Census 2026 (Podcast Index database of 26 September 2026).

n = 67 true crime shows and 3,780 episodes. Last updated 2 October 2026.

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