HistoryExtra Podcast celebrates 200 million downloads

Thursday 26 January, 2023

The phenomenally successful HistoryExtra podcast has celebrated a landmark 200million downloads. Launched in June 2007 as an offshoot of BBC History Magazine, the History Extra podcast, owned by Immediate Media Co, now has a huge global following, releasing six episodes a week and over five million downloads a month.

The top four countries for downloads are US, UK, Canada and Australia. The most downloaded episode of all time is A Year in Medieval England, with over 300k downloads. Over 1,000 episodes of the HistoryExtra podcast are interviews with book authors.

“Reaching 200 million downloads for the HistoryExtra podcast is something I could have only dreamt of when I clicked the record button on my 2007 interview with eminent historian Sir Ian Kershaw about the rise of Nazi Germany. I had an inkling that audiences passionate about history would embrace the chance to hear such gifted story tellers first hand, but I had no idea that moment would lead to 200million downloads world-wide 15 years later”

Dr Dave Musgrove, HistoryExtra’s Content Director

Headshot of David Musgrove, Content Director, BBC History Magazine & HistoryExtra, Immediate Media Co.

“To have achieved a loyal and passionate global following is testament to the hard work from a dedicated team that continues to grow and innovate to bring the best story-telling and historical insight to our audiences.

“Our latest series, Conspiracy, explores historical conspiracy theories – why they arise and persist, plus a weighing up of evidence from expert historians covering everything from who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays to were the moon landings faked.”

Visit HistoryExtra.com for all episodes of The HistoryExtra podcast series Conspiracy.