Video podcasting is surging and creating much-needed work in Hollywood
Absher said video had deepened her connection with audiences and advertisers beyond what audio can afford. She believes seeing her helps the audience feel closer to her, and having video expands her accessibility to people with hearing impairments. Then there's the ability to work with advertisers who want to be seen as well as heard.
"When you add video, you really open the door to the brands you can show," she said. She and the podcaster Kaelyn Moore now cohost "Clues," a new video-first true crime podcast from Max Cutler's Pave Studios.
Podcasting has never been bigger. It's credited with helping shape the presidential election. Big Tech is coming for its piece of the pie.
And now video is transforming the medium as people increasingly prefer to watch their favorite hosts, helping people like Absher build careers.
YouTube said in February that more than 1 billion people listened to podcasts on the platform every month and that in 2024, viewers watched over 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on TVs. Edison Research said in October that YouTube had become the top podcast consumption platform.
The rise of video pods has even led to debate over the question: How do you define a podcast, anyway?
But one thing that's not up for debate is that video has expanded the market and job opportunities in podcasting.
It's not just hosts who are benefiting
Video podcasting's growth has created opportunity for people in a medium that's traditionally had a low barrier for entry but rarely is a full-time job. Along with podcasters like Absher, social media creators are increasingly getting in on the action.
It's also creating opportunities for service firms like Podglomerate and Creator Science that help hosts translate their shows to the screen, as well as digital media and Hollywood folks whose traditional sources of work are drying up.
Podglomerate is hiring people including motion graphics editors, animators, scriptwriters, and even composers, said Chris Boniello, who came out of video and now runs production for the company.
"I do think it's going to bring a lot more people into the space," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you see TV editors with multicamera skills coming into podcasting."
YouTube and Spotify are helping grow the field, with creators eager to cash in on video's much-bigger revenue pie. EMARKETER expects advertisers to spend some $108 billion on digital video in 2025, versus about $2.5 billion being spent on audio podcast advertising.
YouTube, with its massive scale and powerful algorithm, can be a great discovery engine, solving a problem that has long vexed the medium. Podcasters also like that YouTube keeps people watching by serving them more episodes. Spotify, meanwhile, is promoting short video clips to entice people to tune in.
For advertisers, SiriusXM recently rolled out Creator Connect, a tool that creates different versions of a podcast ad for video and social media. Gabe Tartaglia, who heads podcast and satellite sales for SiriusXM, has said that the company has heard from advertisers that they want to be able to buy against hosts' multiplatform efforts. About 12% of SiriusXM's podcast advertisers are already running ads on more than one format, he said.
Jay Clouse, the founder of Creator Science, said his own video podcast grossed $60,000 in revenue in 2024 between programmatic ads on YouTube and brand integrations — triple what it was making in 2022 as an audio-only podcast.
'No doubt video has increased the cost'
The rise of video has raised the once low barrier to entry for podcasting.
While people could make a show with as little as a phone, full productions with everything from location rental, hair, and makeup can cost as much as $10,000 a shoot.
With YouTube comes opportunity but also competition. To stand out quickly from the millions of other creators, you have to work hard to optimize your title, thumbnail, and format, Clouse said.
"You're still auditioning for them," he said. "They might listen for 60 seconds and leave. So the first 30 seconds, two minutes, has to be retentive. You need to think about the title and thumb before you record. It needs to be attention-grabbing, and you need to know what the package is going to be."
Forever Dog Productions, a podcast studio founded in 2016 and known for its work with comedians like Bowen Yang of "Saturday Night Live" and Ayo Edebiri of "The Bear," went all in on video in 2023. Growing on YouTube has meant a lot of testing and studying things like retention and watch time to find the audience. It also more than doubles the number of people required.
"You can't half-ass it," Joe Cilio, one of Forever Dog's founders, said. "No doubt video has increased the cost and amount of personnel."
For those coming from traditional TV and film, a reality check can await.
"Sometimes the Hollywood people have to downshift because they're used to television and now they're in digital media," Cilio said. "It's smaller potatoes; it's less money."
Hosts who are used to the cozy embrace of their listeners can likewise be unprepared for the negative comments that can come with being on YouTube and beyond, where making snarky remarks is as easy as hitting play.
"Podcast people like being pod-famous, but then you start putting them on Facebook — people are crazy," Cilio said. "Talent can take the comments so hard. The price of engagement can weigh heavily because people don't want to be criticized."
The New York comedians Claire Parker and Ashley Hamilton host the podcast "Celebrity Memoir Book Club," a part of Vox Media, on which they discuss celebrity memoirs. They've seen the discovery and revenue benefits of video but acknowledge the downsides, like the expense and emphasis on visuals.
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