President Obama’s appearance on WTF With Marc Maron was as big a deal podcast-wise, as you’d expect. Posted online early Monday morning, the podcast was downloaded 735,063 times in its first 24 hours online, and more than 900,000 times in the first 36 hours. Those numbers come courtesy of Libsyn, the podcasting network that distributes WTF.
In contrast, about 30 million people have watched Obama’s appearance on Zach Galifianakis’ Funny Or Die series, Between Two Ferns.
According to the New York Times, Maron’s previous record-setter was an episode he recorded with director Paul Thomas Anderson that posted January 5 and got just over 200,000 downloads in its first day. The record for any Libsyn show goes to the May 6 episode of Hardcore History, which was downloaded about 350,000 times in its first 24 hours.
Maron’s next episode of WTF, “The President Was Here,” will feature the comedian and podcaster’s thoughts about the President’s visit, and will post on Thursday morning.