Taylor Swift Appearance On 'New Heights' Hits Half A Billion Views
The full podcast episode on YouTube generated 13 million views (and counting) alone, surpassing the prior podcast episode record for 'New Heights.'
Additionally, Swift's appearance produced 379 million video views on Instagram and 61.6 million views on X, while TikTok saw 34.5 million views. Threads had 1.1 million.
The viewership figures, provided to me by media analytics firm Mondo Metrics, included official clips, the full show on YouTube and short-form edits posted on the 'New Heights' handles across different platforms. Mondo Metrics compiled the data from the podcast's first teaser promotion on early Tuesday to 5 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Swift spoke with Kansas City Chiefs tight end and boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his brother and former NFL offensive lineman, Jason Kelce, for two hours. The 35-year-old discussed her new album 'The Life of a Showgirl,' reclaiming control over her master recordings, the Eras Tour, her newfound love in football and more.
'It's a watershed moment,' said Nick Cicero, Founder of Mondo Metrics, which works with sports and entertainment entities like the Arizona Cardinals, the UFL and Men in Blazers. 'Swift could have chosen a late-night TV show or a magazine cover, but she chose an athlete-driven sports podcast. That tells you 'New Heights' has become more than a football show, it's a cultural stage.
'That should end the tired audio vs. video debate. The audience will go where the experience is best. In this case, the visual format amplified the entertainment value because Taylor is a visual artist.'
Cicero told me that the biggest standout video platform for him was YouTube, which accumulated 20.4 million views as of Thursday afternoon. At one point, there were around 1.3 million concurrent viewers on YouTube during the two hour live stream. The 'New Heights' channel on YouTube also recently surpassed three million subscribers following the podcast episode.
'A significant portion of those viewers were watching on a big screen in their living room, the same way they'd watch a Diane Sawyer interview or a primetime special with a world leader,' noted Cicero, adding that Facebook Reels proved to be 'a surprise powerhouse' for the episode, totaling 51.4 million views.
For many years, podcasters first wanted your ears, but now they want your eyes, too. Cicero shared that we've passed the novelty stage of video podcasting in the sports industry. Shows now reach mainstream distribution, compete with sports talk television and in some ways, are full-blown TV shows in 2025. For example, sports personality Pat McAfee has a reported $85 million licensing deal with ESPN to have his YouTube show aired across the network's platforms.
'Shows like 'New Heights,' 'Club Shay Shay' and 'The Pat McAfee Show' aren't just building audiences, they're building media channels that rival cable networks in influence,' Cicero said.
On the Taylor Swift social video views, Cicero added, 'If you're a sports TV executive, these numbers should keep you up at night.'
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