Content by Anthony Dockrill
As we approach the end of the year it’s becoming the time to look back and see if there are any trends that jump out. One trend is clear; more and more people are watching their podcasts.
Like everything, this is not a new thing but what is new is the traction these video versions of podcasts are now getting. The fastest growing section of podcasting is now video (cheap TV is another way of looking at it). In America, YouTube is now America’s number one place for podcasts with 33% of the market. This is incredible growth. Even more impressive is that now more than half of podcasts posted on YouTube are in full video.
What is going on?
I was always sceptical making podcasts into video would be anything more than a niche product for the simple reason how interesting is it to watch someone wear headphones for an hour (or three hours for Joe Rogan)? Clearly people are finding this video appealing content. But why?
Something more profound is going on. It’s not just podcasting that is getting absorbed by video. Video is taking over everywhere.
From Facebook themselves; 80% of all time spent on Facebook is spent watching video. This was a platform set up originally for you to connect with your friends. Just 17% of people’s time on that platform is now for what the platform was created for. A quick look at TikTok will complete the picture. Social media is now less about being social and more about the consumption of video.
Video is swallowing the online universe. It’s not an accident that this coincides with us becoming hopelessly addicted to our phones.
Where to for podcasting and radio? The weight of this trend is inescapable but it would be foolish if the radio industry went all in and stopped valuing the power and importance of the human voice and the locality of our audiences due to the very nature of broadcasting. Radio and podcasting is intimate in a way video simply cannot be because a human voice in your ear is direct and your imagination fills in the rest of the details. Video is watching someone talk into a microphone while looking into a camera. The intimate connection is lost. That is not to say video doesn’t have a power of its own but video isn’t a two for one deal….something is lost in the process.
To hammer the point home. Radio is a conversation, it’s also company. Video is crucially different, it’s an experience.
One thing about watching podcast content that I find depressing is that this is a very different experience to audio because it strikes me this is a very passive activity. Head down looking at your phone.
This is a world away from listening to radio in the car or putting your favourite podcast on while you get your step count up. Yes this form of video consumption is engagement….however, the magic and convenience of radio and podcasting is missing. It also strikes me and the reason why the radio industry should lean into video but not go all in is because you are just more video content in the attention economy. It is way easier to get lost in an international melting pot driven by algorithms and juiced up on AI slop.
As I have written about before, radio is still relevant today because it works. It’s compelling and it’s easy to access and it fits into our lives. Following audiences and being open to changing preferences is important but forgetting or watering down your competitive advantage would be a mistake. Radio is the original new media and it has already overcome the challenges laid down by movies, TV, gaming and let’s be clear the internet.
The future for podcasting might be video or might be like the video boom that took place on Facebook some 10 years ago where newspapers and media companies invested heavily all for the circus to move on leaving them with the tab and no audiences. Just ask Buzzfeed, now with a market cap of $38 million down from $1.5 billion.
In the end video didn’t kill the radio star and we know that because radio has now outlasted MTV. Chances are video won’t kill radio this time either.
Anthony Dockrill is a Digital Producer at Pod Jam and the former Program Director of 2SER FM Sydney.
Links
https://riverside.com/blog/podcast-statistics
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-video-podcasts-streaming-battleground.html