Flightcast combines data from several sources. Use the platform breakdown and the selected date range to understand what a number covers. A combined total is not a single platform’s metric, and a download or media request does not prove that someone listened to the whole episode.
Plays, listens and views
- Total Plays adds the recorded audio listens, Spotify streams and video views available for the period.
- Listens includes RSS downloads, provider-reported audio listens and qualifying RSS/HLS audio activity.
- Spotify Streams is Spotify’s podcast stream metric. It is separate from Spotify Plays.
- Views includes YouTube views and qualifying RSS/HLS video activity.
HLS audio and video are handled separately so a qualifying video session is not counted again as audio. HLS measurements come from media-segment requests, not direct observation of a person watching. Platform counting rules and historical measurement changes can affect comparisons.
Unique audience
The headline Unique Listeners metric combines available YouTube audience estimates with Flightcast RSS and HLS audience identifiers. It does not currently add Spotify’s unique audience to that headline.
These sources are not deduplicated across platforms. YouTube’s daily estimates may also be added across the selected period rather than identifying one person once for that entire range. Treat the result as a source-based audience measure, not the exact number of individual people reached.
Watch time and followers
YouTube Watch Hours and Avg. YouTube Watch Time describe YouTube watch data. They are not a combined listening duration across Spotify, RSS and YouTube.
New Followers combines available new YouTube subscribers and Spotify followers for the period. Check source coverage before interpreting it as a complete audience-growth total.
New and returning activity
The New/Returning listener series uses Flightcast listener-cohort data. It does not identify a person across YouTube and Spotify accounts.
Returning activity can combine source-reported returning views or streams with Flightcast RSS returning-listener identifiers. The combined percentage describes returning activity within its coverage. It is different from playback retention.
Weekly Growth compares average daily Flightcast listener activity in the first seven days of the selected period with the last seven days. At least 14 daily buckets are needed so the two weeks do not overlap. With less data, the comparison is not available.
Catalog metrics
- Back Catalog Plays is the share of plays from episodes more than 30 days old.
- Evergreen compares plays after an episode’s first 30 days with all-time plays for eligible episodes older than 30 days. It is not the number of older episodes in the top ten.
- Release Rate is the number of episodes published in the last 12 weeks divided by 12.
Retention and audience overlap
Multi-platform retention is available when enabled for your workspace and when a source supplies data. If the page says retention is not enabled, contact Flightcast; a missing curve is not a measured zero.
YouTube and Spotify curves show the latest imported snapshots and do not follow your selected dates. Megaphone and RSS-streaming retention use the selected UTC period. RSS-streaming retention is estimated from segment requests, so sources can differ in both coverage and measurement.
Cross-episode audience overlap uses Flightcast RSS listener identifiers for selected recent eligible RSS episodes. It measures overlap across their available lifetime history, rather than only the selected reporting dates. It does not match people across YouTube, Spotify and RSS.
Compare and export carefully
Before comparing numbers, align the show, episode, metric, dates, time zone and source coverage. Missing data should not be interpreted as a measured zero.
Use the export controls available for the view. Supported surfaces include episode-summary CSV, single-episode daily CSV and detailed workbook reports; available data and permissions can vary.
If a number is unexplained, send support the exact metric, dates and comparison. A legacy Spotify source ending after migration does not alone mean the current Spotify analytics connection is broken.