Golden Globes’ new podcast category has industry insiders fuming: ‘It’s all a racket’

All that glitters isn’t gold at the Golden Globes.

When the annual film and TV awards show announced a new best podcast category for 2026, content creators were seeing stars.

Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Dave Portnoy on the same red carpet as Taylor Swift!?

But while the Globes heralded its “landmark inclusion” of the medium at the 83rd awards on Jan. 11 — “by recognizing the extraordinary and diverse talents in podcasting” — pod pros were privately fuming when they deduced the fine print.

Top content execs are calling the new Best Podcast category a new Penske Media “racket” rather than an innovation.

When the press release for the new Best Podcast award came out in May, it explained, down in the copy, “The top 25 podcasts will qualify for the award with a total of six final nominations for the category. Comprehensive eligibility criteria and additional details about Best Podcast will be announced in the coming weeks.”

Some media pros wondered how the “top 25 podcasts” would be chosen. For example the top 25 currently on Spotify include “The Joe Rogan Experience” as well as podcasts hosted by comedians like Amy Poehler and Theo Von, far right wingers like former Fox News host Carlson and Candace Owen, influencer Jake Shane and former NFL star Cam Newton.

But when the rules were put out in the “coming weeks,” the source of the top 25 podcasts wasn’t simply just the Apple charts. 

The rules read, “Eligible podcast will be drawn exclusively from a curated list of the ‘Top 25 Podcasts,’” and, “The list of ‘The Top 25 Podcasts’ will be determined by Luminate, an entertainment data and analytics company, using proprietary methodology designed to objectively evaluate podcasts” based on metrics including audience reach and financials.

What the rules didn’t seem to mention was that Luminate is owned by… you guessed it! Penske.

Says a source who wondered what Luminate was when they saw the name: “The Penske thing is out of control.” The source added, “They said an outside company will [measure] the stats” to determine the top 25 podcasts,” and, “it’s Luminate! Penske!”

The Hollywood veteran huffed, “It’s all a racket,” adding, “they’re not telling advertisers.”

The source alleged that the “new category at [the] Globes is really just a vehicle,” for ads that will go to Penske outlets for a Penske awards show with eligibility determined by a Penske company.

Penske has owned the Golden Globes since 2023 when it acquired the show via its Dick Clark Productions from the wonky, whacky Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 

Penske then made the Globes for-profit under its ownership, and also has a mini-monopoly on Hollywood trades like Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, plus Billboard, which thrive on “For Your Consideration” ads from studios desperately vying for awards. 

After acquiring the show, Penske was also accused of cracking down on non-Penske media access at the awards and favoring its own outlets. 

At the time, reps said there were just less press tickets available because the ballroom’s set up at the Beverly Hilton where the awards annually takes place was reimagined, so it had less space.

Page Six traditionally had a spot at the awards, but was suddenly dropped when Penske took control. 

Reps did not comment.

Other outlets like Puck, the Ankler, the Wrap, the LA Times and more also aim for the studios’ “For Your Consideration” ads, along with Penske properties.

Luminate’s top 25 list for eligibility is determined by data from platforms including Apple, Spotify and YouTube, and Luminate also provides data for Penske’s Billboard charts. The company is part of a PMC and Eldridge joint venture, and is not part of Penske’s editorial ops. 

Podcasts awards have previously been the domain of smaller profile shows, a la the Webbys and the iHeart Podcast Awards.

After we called for comment about this story on Thursday, the Golden Globes released its 25 top podcasts list, including “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “The Megyn Kelly Show,” “The Tucker Carlson Show,” Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy,” “The Ben Shapiro Show,” “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” “SmartLess” (hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett), “Pod Save America,” Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take,” “Good Hang with Amy Poehler,” “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard,” and others.

The Golden Globes had previously said that on Oct. 2 its submission website would open for 2026 podcast entries.

An announcement of nominations will be made Dec. 8.

Comedian Nikki Glaser is back on board to host the 2026 Golden Globes ceremony after a successful run as host in 2025. She was the first woman to host the show solo, successfully shepherding a ceremony she comedically called “Ozempic’s biggest night.”

The most recent Globes — where the big winners were “The Brutalist,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Shōgun” and “Hacks” — drew 9.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen, which marked a 2% drop from the year before. The show airs on CBS and Paramount+.