Apple takes on YouTube and Spotify with new video podcasting push
This illustration photo taken in Poland on June 5, 2024, shows Apple Podcasts displayed on a phone screen in the App Store. (Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Apple On Monday, it announced that it will be bringing a new integrated video podcast experience to Apple Podcasts this spring.
The move comes as streaming video continues to reshape podcasting. According to research, approximately 37% of people over the age of 12 watch video podcasts once a month. Edison Research.
Update brings Apple Podcasts more in line with rivals SpotifyYouTube and now netflixMore and more people are turning to video podcasting.
“Twenty years ago, Apple helped bring podcasting to the mainstream by adding podcasts to iTunes, and more than a decade ago, we introduced the dedicated Apple Podcasts app,” Apple Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue said in a statement. “By bringing a category-leading video experience to Apple Podcasts, we’re giving creators complete control over their content and how they build their businesses, making it easier than ever for viewers to listen to or watch podcasts.”
In the Apple Podcasts app, users will be able to seamlessly switch between watching and listening to programs in the same stream. They can also use picture-in-picture mode and download video segments for offline viewing.
While Apple Podcasts has supported video via RSS since 2005, these feeds have been kept separate from audio versions of the same program. The new update introduces support for HLS or HTTP Live Streaming, a streaming protocol developed by Apple that allows for adaptive video playback and greater control within the app.
The new HLS format also offers the ability to insert dynamic video ads. Content creators distributing through participating hosting providers and ad networks will be able to insert video ads, including server-read spots, into episodes.
Apple said it will not charge creators or hosting providers to distribute content. However, participating ad networks will be charged an impression-based fee for delivering dynamic video ads via HLS.
Podcast hosting partners for this launch include Acast, AmazonOwned by ART19, Triton’s Omny Studio and SiriusXM will also support HLS video.
The announcement comes as rivals continue to invest in podcast video. YouTube last year it said it had more than 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content on its platform. Spotify has also expanded its video podcast offerings and announced that it paid out more than $100 million to podcasters in the first quarter of last year.
Netflix has also entered the video podcast space. The streaming platform signed a deal with Spotify last year to bring video podcasts to Netflix and has begun investing in original video podcast programming, including “The Pete Davidson Show,” which launched in January.
Apple doesn’t break out its revenue specifically for Apple Podcasts, but its Services segment, which includes its digital content and subscription businesses, generated $30 billion in revenue in the latest quarter.
In January, the company acquired Israeli artificial intelligence startup Q.ai for an undisclosed amount. The company hasn’t released details of the acquisition, but Q.ai’s website says it’s working on voice-focused AI tools.
