As more podcasters contemplate video strategies, a new report that analyzes who is choosing to watch, rather than listen to shows, is shedding new light on the evolution. And it may shatter some preconceived notions in the process. The podcast consultancy Sounds Profitable’s research shows podcast video viewers are no more likely to be young or old, male or female, or fall into a racial group. They are also no more likely to be podcast newcomers.
The data shows audio primes — those who listen to mostly audio versions of podcasts — are 59% male and 41% female. That is nearly identical to the 60%-39% split for video primes – those who consume most of their podcast via video. In terms of age, 37% of audio primes are in the 18-34 demo vs. 39% for video primes.
“There’s very little difference in gender, very little difference in age, so it’ll be a mistake to differentiate between those two segments solely on demographics,” Sounds Profitable’s Tom Webster said. “What really separates the video primes from the audio primes is the amount of podcast content that they each consume.”
Speaking on a webinar Wednesday, Webster said the data — based on Sounds Profitable’s annual Podcast Landscape study — shows 19% of audio primes are heavy consumers of podcasts, defined as listening more than nine hours a week. But a third of video primes consume more than nine hours per week. The data also shows that nearly two-thirds (64%) of video primes say they are spending more time with YouTube compared with a year ago vs. 52% of audio primes that said the same.
“There’s a considerable amount of overlap between the two, and people are choosing to consume video or choosing to consume audio based on their context and environment,” Webster said.
Overall, Sounds Profitable data shows 53% of weekly podcast listeners say they spent more than a quarter of their podcast consumption time watching a video version. That includes 14% of weekly podcast listeners who said 75% to 100% of their podcast consumption is via video. But Webster says podcasting remains an audio-first medium.
“Video certainly is making a lot of noise. But most podcast consumers consume mostly audio. This is still an audio forward medium. Let’s not make any mistake about that,” Webster said. “Certainly, some of the newest hits and some of the top 50 podcasts are predominantly video or video forward, but most podcast consumers spend their time listening even though they may discover things through video platforms.”
In fact, the biggest impact of videos may wind up being on discovery, not overall consumption. The report shows two-thirds of video primes say they discovered their favorite podcast on YouTube. But audio primes are surprisingly not all that different. YouTube is also the leading discovery outlet, with nearly half (48%) of audio-centric podcast consumers saying they discovered their favorite podcast on YouTube.
It may be why 41% of video primes say it was “very easy” for them to have discovered the last podcast they consume, vs. 31% of audio primes who said the same thing. “I think there’s some marching orders there for the industry,” Webster said.
Crooked Sees Big Gains In YouTube Views
Crooked Media is among the podcast publishers that has aggressively pushed into video in the past several years, and fans of its shows have responded. The company says since 2021 it has seen a nine-fold increase in video consumption and its YouTube subscribers climbing to 1.5 million. And since 2022, Crooked has averaged 60% growth each year in its video’s reach — including an 81% increase in YouTube views in 2024.
“Podcasting has always been about audio and video from the very beginning, and letting our audience choose how they want to engage with us has been really important from the beginning of Pod Save America,” Crooked co-founder Jon Favreau said on the webinar.
Giancarlo Bizzaro, VP of Sales at Crooked Media, said that 90% of the company’s shows will have a simulcast presence going into next year. “Most of our video shows are on YouTube right now, but we’ve seen just exponential growth. And subscriber growth mirrors what we’re seeing across the board,” he said. “We are prioritizing trying to make video versions of our always-on shows, because we think that consumption trends have just been exponential.”
Bizzaro says they are selling video podcast ads based on the number of YouTube views, in tandem with the usual download numbers used to sell audio podcast ad time. He sees the idea of audio and video as rivals as a “false choice,” viewing the two as simply giving consumers the option to listen or watch as their own personal situation allows in a platform agnostic way.
“Video and audio aren’t competing,” Bizzaro said. “If anything, what we’re seeing is that the listener segment is the same. Audio excels at intimate storytelling, while video can expand the visual emotional connection. And so for creators, it’s not which one, but how they work together.”