I wonder how they count this? I use overcast app. It automatically downloads episodes of anything I’m subscribed to. But I migh not listen to it. Or I might listen to five minutes and delete. What level of truth do these podcast stats catch?
The IAB publishes guidelines for how downloads are counted as listens. If you download but don't listen, it still counts as a listen. The relative changes to listenership matter a lot more than every one of the downloads being a real, legitimate listen.