Pop’s biggest showgirl put on one of YouTube’s biggest shows Wednesday, with Taylor Swift pulling in a record-high amount of live viewers with her debut on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast.
As announced by YouTube on Friday (Aug. 15), the superstar’s guest appearance on the sports and lifestyle show was simultaneously watched by millions of people, peaking at 1.3 million concurrent livestream viewers. That’s more than any other podcast has garnered since the platform launched a “dedicated podcast experience in 2023,” the company shared.
“I mean this video being 1.3 million views is the epitome of numerology,” the elder Kelce wrote on X of the show, referencing Swift’s famous lucky number 13 and their discussion of numeric musical Easter Eggs on the podcast.
It’s not the only huge number the special New Heights installment achieved Wednesday: Spotify reported that the episode had become one of this past year’s highest-performing podcasts within just one day of its release, increasing the show’s female viewership by more than 600%.
Though certainly impressive, it’s clear why so many fans were interested in tuning in to Swift’s guest episode. In addition to opening up about her romance with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, finishing up her historic Eras Tour and reclaiming her masters, the 14-time Grammy winner shared details about new album The Life of a Showgirl on New Heights, including its cover, tracklist and release date.
“[The album is] a lot more upbeat, and it’s a lot more fun pop excitement,” Swift said of the album on the show, noting that the LP is a “behind the scenes” look into her personal life during her Eras trek. “My main goals were melodies that were so infectious, you’re almost angry at it … We’ve made songs that I’m so proud of.”
Check out Swift’s record-smashing New Heights episode above.
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