Podcast Pulse

I'm still hearing too many folks in the podcast industry say: "Nobody is watching these video podcasts," or "video podcasts are too expensive to create."

But the reality I'm seeing is:
  • Many podcasters are already recording video (on Zoom, Riverside, and Squadcast).
  • It's natural for them to want to upload the video to YouTube (and attract an audience there), AND keep distributing audio to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast, etc. 
I think this is the new normal.

Peter Mansbridge is proof. His show "The Bridge" is pulling in 150,000 YouTube views per episode. Bad lighting. Cheap cameras. Three people on a Zoom call. No production crew, no editor, no studio.

And... he's not sacrificing his audio audience either: 1,600+ reviews on Apple Podcasts, 673+ on Spotify.

He records once, uploads the same video/audio recording to every platform, and reaches his audience "wherever they get their podcasts."

The podcast industry keeps debating whether video is "real podcasting" or too expensive to produce. Meanwhile, creators are just recording their Zoom calls, uploading to YouTube, and audiences are showing up.

On LinkedIn, Paul Riismandel commented:
"The thing I've observed – and it's totally just human nature – is that it's challenging to understand the audience's new consumption behaviors and preferences when it doesn't match one's own. But the podcast audience is broader, more diverse, and younger than a decade ago. I received so much pushback three years ago when we first observed YouTube becoming the most preferred podcast platform. Today we're seeing that the smart TV is on the verge of being the 2nd most used device for podcasts in North America and elsewhere. Yet, I get presented with a lot of skepticism when I share that view with folks in the industry, despite having three separate studies all point in that direction. The primary objection I hear is that someone just can't wrap their head around watching podcasts in TV because they don't do it (and likely don't know someone who does)."
At Transistor, we'll be moving to this model: creators will upload their video file, and we handle the rest (syndicate to YouTube, encode to HLS for Apple Podcasts, distribute via RSS to Pocket Casts, Overcast, and every open podcast app).

Creators and audiences want to consume podcast-like content on YouTube (still unclear if they want video content on Spotify/Apple). Much of that is due to YouTube's algorithm and distribution muscle. Regardless, that's the reality on the field right now.

Links:

Creators and Guests

Host
Justin Jackson
Co-founder of Transistor.fm (podcast hosting).

What is Podcast Pulse?

Justin Jackson (co-founder of Transistor.fm) shares candid reflections on the podcast ecosystem: the future of audio, video, and RSS, for podcast creators, industry insiders, and curious listeners alike.

Justin Jackson:

Hey, everybody. It's Justin from transistor.fm. And I just keep thinking about the podcast industry playing the game on the field. And I thought this podcast would be a good example of kind of what's happening out there. So Good Talk is a Canadian podcast for Canadian audience.

Justin Jackson:

Let's fast forward and listen to how they describe the show after they've come back from a break.

Peter Mansbridge:

And welcome back. You're listening to good talk for this, Friday. Chantal Hébert, Bruce Anderson, Peter Mansbridge, all here with you. You're listening on your favorite podcast platform or you're watching us on our highly successful YouTube channel. I'm amazed at how many of you watch on our YouTube channel last couple of weeks up there around a 150,000 views, which is, as I've said before, is more than some television programs get.

Peter Mansbridge:

So we're very happy and pleased with that.

Justin Jackson:

Peter Mansbridge, former Canadian news anchor, started a podcast. And when he communicates with his audience, he uses all the right words. Right? You're listening to us on your favorite podcast platform or our highly successful YouTube channel. And for so many podcasters now, this is the reality.

Justin Jackson:

This is the game on the field. What's interesting is that a show like this no production. This is it. This is what people are consuming on YouTube. And it's just blown up.

Justin Jackson:

They're getting so much traction. There's just no denying that YouTube has become a important place for podcast creators to distribute their content, connect with their audience, and get discovered. And I think a lot of people in the industry are like, you know, nobody's watching video podcasts or video podcasts are a lot more expensive to to create. Look at this. This is they're all just using their webcams.

Justin Jackson:

I mean, Peter Mansbridge has a little bit of a nicer setup. But otherwise, it's just, like, cheap microphones, cheap cameras, no lighting. And, I mean, this show is blown up. What creator wouldn't want, you know, regularly getting over a 100,000 views on an episode? And I think now the other question is, you know, will Peter Mansbridge start publishing the video on Spotify?

Justin Jackson:

Actually, has he done that? Let's look. So on Spotify, he is not publishing video right now. That's interesting. And then the other question is, will Peter Mansbridge be publishing his video on Apple Podcasts?

Justin Jackson:

Who knows? Right? It's not doing that on Spotify right now. For many podcast creators, this is the reality. Many of them can publish a video version on YouTube that's getting consumed.

Justin Jackson:

We don't know if people are watching the whole thing or if they just have it on in the background. But this is not an expensive production. This is three people on a Zoom call, bad lighting, not great audio, recording a podcast that goes out every week that's getting hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. And I'm guessing he's got a lot of listeners on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I mean, he's got 673 reviews on Spotify, so he must have traction there.

Justin Jackson:

And on Apple Podcasts, he has 1,600 reviews. So this show is popular on Apple Podcasts. It's popular on Spotify. It's popular on YouTube. Whether the podcast industry likes it or not, creators want to publish video podcast episodes on YouTube, even though that's not connected to an RSS feed or anything else.

Justin Jackson:

And many of them still want to distribute the audio only version to Apple Podcasts and Spotify and everywhere else. In Peter's case, he's getting good traction. It looks like everywhere. And at Transistor, we're starting to think about podcast distribution like this. Right?

Justin Jackson:

People are gonna be uploading a video file, which we will then syndicate to YouTube and Spotify. Although it seems like what most creators want is YouTube. And then we'll happily encode it into HLS format and distribute that to Apple Podcasts via their API, but also distribute it to all the open podcast apps via the alternate enclosure tag in RSS. And then we'll also transcode that video file into an audio file that will get distributed to Pocketcasts and Overcasts and everything else. This is where it's going, folks.

Justin Jackson:

This is where podcasting is going. We can't ignore it. Many creators want to upload their video that they're already recording on Zoom or Squadcast or StreamYard or Riverside. They'll just upload that to YouTube. And they'll also make the audio version.

Justin Jackson:

And in terms of how audiences will respond, in many cases, a podcast that is killing it on Apple Podcasts with an audio only podcast will kill it by just uploading a simple video version to YouTube. No super expensive production. Nothing super complicated. I don't even know if they're leveling the audio. They're just recording it, uploading it, and audiences love it.