What the hell is a podcast anyway?
Reflections from Podcast Movement 2026 in New York on audio, video, money and an industry still finding its way.
Podcasting is now a huge global industry. Netflix is getting involved, YouTube has become a major distribution platform, and successful shows can attract deals worth millions.
Yet at Podcast Movement in New York, one question kept cropping up.
Audio? Video? Both?
For an industry that's grown so dramatically, it's remarkable how much time we still spend arguing about the basics.
The video argument. Again.
Let's be clear. Video can work brilliantly.
Interview programmes, panel discussions and other conversational formats lend themselves naturally to cameras. With YouTube now comfortably established on the television in your living room, watching a podcast can feel much like watching any other programme.
And YouTube's ability to help audiences discover new content is enormously valuable.
But video introduces complexity, time and expense. Cameras, lighting, sets, editing and graphics all add to the production workload.
And badly produced video can look dreadful.
Poor lighting, awkward camera angles, unconvincing backgrounds and endless shots of people wearing headphones can make an otherwise excellent conversation look distinctly amateur.
Then there are programmes that don't lend themselves naturally to pictures.
True crime, documentary and carefully crafted audio storytelling can use interviews, archive material, music and sound design to create something extraordinarily compelling.
Turning that into television is an entirely different proposition.
So why assume that every podcast needs to be a video programme?
Finding an audience isn't the same as keeping one
One of the strongest arguments for video is discovery.
YouTube is a hugely effective way of introducing programmes to new audiences. A short clip might attract someone who would never have found the programme through a traditional podcast app.
But discovery and consumption are not the same thing.
Research cited by Sounds Profitable, drawing on Triton Digital's 2025 US Podcast Report, found that 80% of monthly American podcast consumers use both audio and video. Just 13% were audio-only consumers and 7% video-only.
In other words, most audiences aren't choosing sides. They're using whichever format suits them.
You might discover an interview through a YouTube clip, watch some of it on your television and listen to the rest in the car.
And there are still plenty of occasions when watching simply isn't practical. Driving, running, walking the dog or getting on with another job are all perfectly good opportunities to listen.
Audio remains an extraordinarily convenient and intimate medium.
None of this means ignoring YouTube.
But a YouTube presence doesn't necessarily require an elaborate multicamera production. For some programmes, a static image, a simple visual treatment or a few clips recorded on a phone may be perfectly adequate.
The question isn't whether you can add video. It's whether video makes the programme better.
And whether the additional investment is justified.
From spare bedrooms to billion-dollar businesses
The sheer scale and scope of podcasting never cease to amaze me.
Podcast Movement remains, at heart, a gathering of programme makers. There are independent creators working from kitchen tables and spare bedrooms, alongside established producers and international media businesses.
They're all trying to reach audiences. The resources available to them are somewhat different.
And the big players are becoming more interested.
Netflix has entered the video podcast market through deals involving Spotify and iHeartMedia.
Successful podcasts are increasingly being treated as valuable media properties, with distribution agreements and commercial arrangements that wouldn't look out of place in traditional television.
In May, Variety reported that a deal involving Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, Netflix and Spotify could be worth around $100 million. The figure wasn't officially confirmed, but it gives some indication of the scale of the business at the top end.
There's a certain irony here.
Podcasting developed partly as an alternative to conventional broadcasting.
Independent creators could bypass the networks and reach audiences directly.
Now major media companies are commissioning programmes, negotiating distribution rights and competing for exclusive content.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Having spent much of my career in broadcasting, I can't help noticing how podcasting is beginning to resemble the industry it once challenged.
But the great thing is that you can still start with a good idea, a microphone and comparatively little money.
Long may that continue.
The trouble with making millions
Then there's monetisation.
Podcasting has never been short of people explaining how to make money from podcasting.
Advertising, sponsorship, subscriptions, audience growth, premium content, branded partnerships. The opportunities are certainly there.
And at the top end, the sums can be astonishing.
But there's a danger of confusing the exceptional with the typical.
For most independent creators, building a sustainable audience is a long, hard slog. Producing good content consistently takes time, effort and editorial discipline.
Finding sponsors willing to pay meaningful money is another challenge altogether.
The idea that you can buy a couple of microphones, record half a dozen episodes and watch the advertising revenue roll in is fanciful.
Of course, not every podcast needs to make money directly.
For businesses and organisations, the benefits may be quite different. A well-produced programme can strengthen relationships, demonstrate expertise, reach a specialist audience or support wider communications objectives.
A few hundred engaged listeners in the right market might be far more valuable than thousands who have little interest in what you're doing.
But whether your ambition is commercial or something else, you need to know what you're trying to achieve.
And be realistic about what it will take.
Back to the programme
I came away from New York impressed, as ever, by the creativity, ambition and sheer enthusiasm of the people making podcasts.
It's an extraordinary industry, embracing everything from one-person productions to international media businesses.
And it's still evolving.
The arguments about audio, video, platforms and monetisation aren't going away. Nor should they. They're important questions.
But I sometimes wonder whether we're allowing the technology and commercial possibilities to distract us from something rather more fundamental.
The programme.
Whether you're recording at your kitchen table or producing for a major international distributor, you still need a good idea, a clear understanding of your audience and something genuinely worth listening to or watching.
And you need to keep delivering it.
The cameras, platforms and business models should follow from those decisions.
Not the other way around.
After more than 30 years working in broadcasting, I find myself returning to a rather old-fashioned principle.
Make a good programme. Give people a reason to come back.
Everything else starts there.
Neil McCafferty is a former BBC journalist and broadcaster with more than 30 years' experience in radio, television and international media. Through Digi Media, he works with organisations on executive communications, media training, and podcast and video production.
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