Netflix is betting on podcasts to become the new daytime talk show

When you tune successful to a podcast, you’re astir apt not opening the Netflix app – astatine slightest for now. 

That mightiness change, if Netflix gets its way. The streamer signed deals with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports this week, successful summation to a caller woody with Spotify, to summation exclusive video rights to prime shows. The institution is besides rumored to beryllium successful talks with SiriusXM.

Podcasters spot this arsenic an violative determination with YouTube arsenic the superior target. And the information provides a convincing argument. YouTube shared this week that viewers watched implicit 700 cardinal hours of podcasts connected surviving country devices (like TVs) successful 2025, up from 400 cardinal past year.

“As radical statesman to walk little clip watching accepted television, and much clip watching abbreviated signifier oregon debased cost, debased accumulation worth contented connected YouTube, that mightiness contiguous a agelong word competitory menace to Netflix,” Matthew Dysart, an amusement lawyer and erstwhile caput of podcast concern affairs astatine Spotify, told TechCrunch. 

While podcasters mightiness recognize the motivation, not everyone is convinced astir Netflix’s move. Some podcasters told TechCrunch they’re not definite determination is semipermanent worth successful video podcasts, portion others are disquieted Netflix is contributing to a podcast bubble.

“They’re fundamentally saying, ‘we privation to beryllium the king of content, and the lone mode we’re going to bash that is if we instrumentality a swipe astatine YouTube,’” podcaster Ronald Young Jr. told TechCrunch. Still, Young Jr. thinks radical are turning connected video podcasts and letting them play successful the background, noting that ESPN has been doing immoderate mentation of this for overmuch longer than we’ve been capable to sanction it.

The buzz of video podcasts

When autarkic podcasters Mike Schubert and Sequoia Simone launched their caller amusement “Professional Talkers” this year, they noted the buzz astir video podcasts and decided to commencement the caller amusement arsenic a video-first accumulation connected YouTube and Spotify.

“Neither of america had done video before, truthful we were like, ‘Why don’t we conscionable commencement from the opening and marque this a video show?’” Schubert told TechCrunch. 

Schubert recovered that his assemblage was ambivalent toward the video, possibly due to the fact that helium has spent astir a decennary releasing audio podcasts, cultivating a fanbase that already enjoys and expects audio content.

“We posted an audio-only episode, and it did beauteous similarly, numbers-wise,” helium said. “So wherefore would we enactment truthful overmuch clip and effort into the video and past tally the hazard of the occurrence being precocious erstwhile we tin conscionable bash audio only?”

Young Jr. considered investing much vigor into video, but decided against it – similar Schubert and Simone, helium realized that helium built an assemblage that prefers listening to podcasts than viewing them.

“I’m like, ‘Well who americium I pivoting for?’” helium said. “And I realized that the pivot would beryllium for advertisers, for podcast executives, and for radical who deliberation that video is the absorption that everyone’s going.” 

Still, determination are immoderate consumers who privation to spot video — adjacent arsenic a passive amusement to crook connected successful the inheritance — arsenic evidenced by YouTube’s staggering viewership stats.

Mikah Sargent, a podcast shaper and big astatine TWiT.tv, works with shows similar “This Week successful Tech,” which person had a video constituent for much than 15 years. (Disclosure: I co-host a amusement astatine TWiT.tv erstwhile per month.)

“Something that I regularly perceive from our listeners is… ‘you were my inheritance erstwhile I was going done a unsmooth time, oregon I needed to question crossed the country, and having you determination to perceive to helped maine walk the time,’” Sargent told TechCrunch. “There’s a batch of passed clip with podcasts. So Netflix tin look astatine that and go, ‘Ooh, we get to person this happening that successful immoderate cases takes up much clip and much streaming than you would get with a emblematic show.’”

What is simply a podcast anyway?

There’s a disconnect betwixt however creators and tech companies each deliberation astir podcasts. For radical who marque podcasts, a podcast tin beryllium a conversational amusement similar the ones connected YouTube, but it tin besides beryllium a format that doesn’t construe seamlessly to video, similar scripted fabrication with dependable plan and dependable actors, oregon the benignant of reported, refined audio stories you’d find connected NPR.

“I deliberation this has to bash with however squishy the connection podcast is now,” podcaster Eric Silver told TechCrunch. “It means anything. It conscionable means amusement now.”

For these autarkic creators, the firm goings-on betwixt Netflix and Spotify don’t instantly interaction their day-to-day. But podcasters retrieve what happened erstwhile Spotify bought up and consolidated a important chunk of the industry, created a bubble, past burst that aforesaid bubble itself. The interaction reverberated crossed the manufacture with studio closures, layoffs, and a conception among onlookers that podcasting was “dead.” So erstwhile different large tech institution comes waltzing into their industry, they’re skeptical. 

“In immoderate signifier of amusement and media, erstwhile companies consolidate, the radical who presently person powerfulness proceed to get richer and richer than the manufacture underneath it,” Silver said. “The aboriginal gets much and much murky, and has little and little resources.”

Netflix isn’t making arsenic utmost moves arsenic Spotify. The second institution spent billions acquiring respective tech startups and studios, allowing Spotify to power the full process of making a podcast, from the signaling bundle to the advertisement income tools.

“I deliberation that what Netflix is doing is simply a small spot much calculated than what Spotify did,” Young Jr. said. “Spotify blindly threw wealth astatine the apical creators, and they benignant of cratered the marketplace successful doing so, due to the fact that the infinitesimal you worth Joe Rogan astatine $250 million…  you worth them truthful highly that the regular podcaster is like, wherever bash I autumn connected this?”

But what’s seen arsenic an industry-changing infusion of wealth into the podcast manufacture isn’t really that staggering for a institution similar Netflix, which is on track to marque astir $45 cardinal this year.

“Netflix and Spotify are akin successful that mode – assertive moves to trial a caller worth proposition by targeting apical performers and spending wealth that yet is not that important from the position of a planetary tech platform, but is meaningful to the creator economy, to rapidly larn if there’s a ‘there’ there.” Dysart said.

Netflix has lone made deals with media companies frankincense far, alternatively than idiosyncratic creators similar Spotify did, but Dysart thinks Netflix’s investments are lone beginning.

“I would expect Netflix to astatine immoderate constituent spell effort to onslaught a nine-figure woody with a apical podcast creator,” helium added.  “I would besides expect Netflix to instrumentality truly large swings with precise precocious illustration personalities connected archetypal podcasts.”

If Netflix gets its way, our civilization volition displacement distant from watching programmatic daytime TV and speech shows, and toward watching podcasts.

“Back successful the day, my ma would person a soap opera playing successful the inheritance portion she was doing things, and I was decidedly the idiosyncratic who would person ‘The Office’ playing successful the inheritance portion I’m doing things,” Sargent said. “Now, radical get to person a podcast playing successful the inheritance portion they’re doing things, and if Netflix tin beryllium the spot wherever they spell to bash that, past I deliberation it’s a triumph for the company.”