Are Podcasts Now a Video-First Medium?

I was struck listening to a recent Hard Fork episode, featuring Casey Newton and Kevin Roose, when the hosts pushed viewers to consume the episode on YouTube. It wasn’t the promotion of a video version of the podcast that surprised me, as nearly all the podcasts I listen to now post to YouTube. Rather, it was the hosts description of the episode as “better to see than to hear.”

Hard Fork isn’t alone. A recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast was repackaged from a YouTube Live. Pablo Torre Finds Out - on the DraftKings Network, a 24 hour video stream - often revolves around video clips that the host discusses with his guests. In other words, if you’re not watching the video, you’re missing out.

All this got me thinking: are podcasts now a video-first medium? Should we view chat-casts as a low(er) cost video production vehicle? Or are podcasts producers using video for audience development, while hoping to amortize their investment through alternative distribution and monetization channels, just as live tours and merch have become an important part of the podcast revenue mix?

Creating video content from podcasts isn’t new. Podcasters have been putting up stationary video cameras in their studios for years. When we built the P&L for new podcast studios at Condé Nast about five years ago, video equipment was essential. YouTube over the last couple years has finally invested in podcasting tools to aid discovery and consumption. And NeimanLabs reported last year that an increasing number of news outlets are posting podcasts to the video platform.?

The reverse path is also common, especially among late night comedians and TV newscasters. I’ve long consumed Seth Meyers' “A Closer Look” monologues via podcast and, I have yet to see John Stewart’s return to The Daily Show, though I’ve listened to the podcast version nearly every week. This obviously allows NBCUniversal and Comedy Central , respectively, to squeeze additional dollars out of the broadcasts and find an audience that, like me, is unlikely to watch either on TV or online.

But the video-fication of podcasts seems different to me and more than just an attempt to build an additional revenue stream. I may be overstating it, but it feels like the final capstone of the post-Serial hype cycle and an acknowledgement that podcasting is, and will remain, a secondary medium. I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing. I love podcasts precisely for the ability to multi-task and consume content when I can’t watch video. I consume podcasts when I jog, cook, shop, ride the subway, etc.

Some surveys show that a majority of consumers prefer video podcasts to pure audio. According to a Morning Consult report released in 2023, 46% of podcast listeners said they prefer consuming them with video, compared with 42% who said they would rather listen without video. So while video podcasts are definitely serving a dedicated audience, the podcast pivot to video is, of course, all about money. Audio ads may outperform video for attention and brand recall, but video budgets dwarf audio: digital video commanded $52.1B in the US in 2023, compared to $7B for digital audio, of which podcasting was projected to be $2.3B.

After a rough year that saw layoffs and retrenchment across the board in audio, the biggest podcast players predict that 2024 will see renewed growth in podcast revenue and advertisers. Digiday also projected that “podcasters [would] dabble with creating complementary video podcasts to distribute on YouTube.” I suspect we’re well past the “dabbling” phase when it comes to video and podcasts. But have podcasts tipped into becoming a video medium??

What do you think Bimal Kapadia , Conal Byrne , Ross Adams , Sahar Elhabashi ? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you want to chat about podcasts or anything media, you can reach me at MountProspectPartners.com to chat or message me here on LinkedIn.