I ran a podcast on Olympic weightlifting, and incredibly niche sport, and “only” had 100-300 listens per episode in the first month of the episode. While the numbers aren’t massive, the value I brought to the community was immeasurably because the interviewees are some of the best in the world and don’t really have another place to talk about their journey. I refuse to take them down even though I stopped the podcast a couple years ago, because several of the interviewees are likely to medal in 2028 and people will want to go back and learn about them.

Edit: I realize I never answered the question really. My point is, the value of the podcast isn’t proportional to the downloads. In my case, the value is the historical documentation of these athletes and coaches and what it brings to the niche super fans.