Podcasts are quickly becoming the new vlogging on YouTube, with every YouTuber seemingly having a podcast channel and racking up millions of views. Some of the most popular podcasts on YouTube include The Iced Coffee Hour, the PBD Podcast, Lex Fridman, and Logan Paul’s Podcast.
Despite being long and lacking in flashy editing and sound effects, podcasts are performing better than ever. In fact, YouTube is trying to capitalize on this trend by pushing podcasts as much as possible.
Joe Rogan, the host of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, can be credited for the explosion of podcasts on YouTube. With 10 million subscribers and nearly 3 billion views by the end of 2020, Rogan’s show focused on educational and intellectual value rather than production and entertainment value.
Spotify offered Rogan an exclusivity deal worth up to $200 million, and he moved his podcast to their platform at the end of 2020. Despite conventional wisdom suggesting that this would be bad news for YouTube, large creators leaving the platform can actually be beneficial. Twitch has found that when a super large creator in a niche leaves the platform, it allows smaller creators to gain more attention.
However, the question remains whether podcasts taking over the platform is just a short-term fad or the future of YouTube. The trend of vlogging didn’t last long, and eventually, most vloggers quit.
Podcasts are cheap and easy to produce but can generate high revenues
What makes podcasts so appealing for creators is that they are relatively easy and inexpensive to produce compared to creating a well-edited 20-minute video. All you really need is a microphone and a computer to record and edit your content. Podcasts can also be recorded remotely, making it possible to interview guests from anywhere in the world. Additionally, podcasts tend to be longer than other forms of content, which means more time for ads to be placed, leading to potentially higher revenue.
The podcast audience also tends to be more educated and affluent, making them an attractive target for advertisers. According to recent studies, the annual income of the majority of listeners is over $75,000. In terms of education, 83% of podcast consumers have at least reached college education, with 34% having graduated.
The niche topics that most podcasts cover also allow for more targeted advertising. When podcast listeners are more engaged and involved with the content, they are more likely to listen to an entire episode, increasing the likelihood that they will hear multiple ads. All of these factors make podcasting an increasingly profitable medium for creators and businesses alike.
In conclusion, podcasts on YouTube are not going away anytime soon. They may lack the flashy editing and sound effects of other content, but their focus on intellectual and educational value has struck a chord with viewers. As YouTube continues to push podcasts, it will be interesting to see how this trend evolves over time.
If you found this article interesting, we also wrote a blog post on how platforms are already giving up on short-form videos. And if you are a fan of podcasts, here is a list of quality YouTube channels for movie reviews.
