The rest is football – Image: Netflix
At the beginning of the year, Netflix launched video podcasts with a handful of titles, which has since expanded to over 50 unique podcasts from third-party partners and its own in-house titles. However, it is difficult to measure the success of podcasts, given that none have appeared in the daily top 10, suggesting that audience numbers may be quite low – that is, so far. the rest is football It has become Netflix’s first major success in the world of podcasts.
So, what’s the secret sauce that finally propelled podcasts into the upper echelons of Netflix’s charts? In our view: timing, established talent and event-driven content.
As we previously covered, Goalhanger Podcast inked a deal with Netflix to bring the hit football podcast from Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards to the streamer as a daily show exclusively for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. With the North American tournament officially starting last week, soccer fever is in full swing, and subscribers are actively looking for daily punditry and tournament reactions.
Given that many people, including me, have grown up with Lineker and Shearer’s commentaries and insights on the BBC at every World Cup, which has gone on for decades at this point, they’ve got a huge audience, as evidenced by their already massive listener base, which will be back in 2024. Reportedly reached between 7 and 8 million audience.
The podcast is one of the first podcasts on Netflix to take advantage of going live (breakfast club, bill simmons showAnd Spittin’ Chocolates Live streams regularly or even daily in some cases), but with the caveat that the livestream will begin on Netflix at 6am BST (UK time) or 1am ET.
The reason for its early start is the difference in time zones. When the games actually take place, the broadcast often occurs after the two World Cup games in the afternoon/evening, and is no doubt timed to allow for those who consume the podcast through other platforms. But given how visual this particular podcast is (especially compared to The Bill Simmons Podcast, which got no visual evolution when it came to Netflix), with hosts in a luxurious New York studio, lots of guests, real camera work, and production values, it’s no surprise that many people will stop in and watch when they get home from work, right before that day’s games start.
Here’s a description of how the rest is football The following have performed in the Daily Top 10 TV charts in the past week:
| Country | 11 June | 12 June | 13 June | 14 June | 15th June | 16 June | Tomorrow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bahrain | – | – | 10. | – | – | – | – |
| bulgaria | – | – | 10. | – | – | – | – |
| Cyprus | 9. | 8. | 8. | – | – | – | – |
| iceland | 3. | 4. | 3. | 4. | 10. | – | 7. |
| ireland | 3. | 3. | 3. | 3. | 10. | – | 5. |
| malta | 4. | 4. | 5. | 7. | – | – | 10. |
| new zealand | – | 10. | – | – | – | – | – |
| united arab emirates | – | 10. | 9. | 10. | – | – | – |
| united kingdom | 3. | 2. | 2. | 3. | 6. | – | 2. |
Not surprisingly, the podcast is performing remarkably well in its home region. In the United Kingdom, where Lineker, Shearer and Richards are national sporting icons, the show has consistently been around the top 3, peaking at #2 overall and remaining strong against heavily scripted dramas. It has also performed exceptionally well in Ireland and Iceland.
Image Credit: Netflix
It marks a significant milestone for Netflix’s podcasting and talk-show experiment. So far, it’s unclear whether podcasts are moving the needle, even though they’ve clearly been a priority for 2026.
According to Flixpatrol, it is one of only four shows classified as talk shows to be in the top 10 worldwide this year. This is no surprise; As we’ve covered before, this genre particularly struggles on Netflix. The Great Indian Kapil Show This is perhaps Netflix’s most successful show to date, featuring in the Indian daily top 10 for 428 days now and counting. Renewed for a fifth season. The only other talk shows to make the top 10 in 2026 are two South Korean shows, chef and my fridgeAnd Uh, but like, seriously!.
speaking recently Professor G Markets Podcast in Los AngelesNetflix co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, said, “We tried the talk show over and over again, and I think the format has kind of given way to podcasting.” According to Sarandos, audiences are completely tired of heavily formatted, hyper-rehearsed late-night models. “What they don’t want is the highly produced seven-minute sofa interview on the talk show that they’re used to watching,” he said, hinting that viewers are looking for something more intimate and unfiltered. “They really want to hear this long Freeform interview without any makeup and security, just a real casual conversation.” Although he did not provide specifics on listenership numbers, Sarandos revealed that early data shows that viewers are “watching during the day where there isn’t typically a lot of streaming.” Many are also watching on their phones, with Sarandos saying that viewers are “watching more mobile than watching other types of programming.”
It will be interesting to see whether the show’s momentum continues as the World Cup progresses into the knockout stages, and more importantly, whether Netflix attempts to replicate this daily, sports-adjacent formula for other major events moving forward.
Are you tuning in? the rest is football On Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.
