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Apple has announced it will bring a new integrated video podcast experience to Apple Podcasts soon. This comes as the company moves to compete more directly with YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix in the growing video podcasting space.
About 37% of adults aged 12 and older watch video podcasts monthly, according to Edison Research data. As changing viewer habits continue to reshape the industry, the update will align Apple Podcasts with rivals who have shifted more and more toward video podcasting.In a statement to CNBC, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Services, said, “Twenty years ago, Apple helped take podcasting mainstream by adding podcasts to iTunes, and more than a decade ago, we introduced the dedicated Apple Podcasts app. By bringing a category-leading video experience to Apple Podcasts, we’re putting creators in full control of their content and how they build their businesses, while making it easier than ever for audiences to listen to or watch podcasts.”
What this Apple Podcasts update means for users
In the Apple Podcasts app, users can switch between watching and listening to shows from the same feed, use picture-in-picture mode, and download video episodes for offline viewing.
While Apple Podcasts has supported video through RSS since 2005, those feeds were kept separate from audio versions of the same show. The update introduces support for HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), a streaming protocol developed by Apple that enables adaptive video playback and greater controls within the app.The new HLS format also introduces dynamic video ad insertion. Creators who distribute through participating hosting providers and ad networks can insert video ads, including host-read spots, into their episodes.Apple said it will not charge creators or hosting providers to distribute content but will charge participating ad networks an impression-based fee for delivering dynamic video ads through HLS. Launch podcast hosting partners include Acast, Amazon-owned ART19, Triton's Omny Studio, and SiriusXM, all of which will support HLS video.The announcement comes as competitors continue investing in video podcasting.
Last year, YouTube said that it had more than 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content on its platform. Meanwhile, Spotify has expanded its video podcast offerings and said it paid podcasters more than $100 million in the first quarter of 2025.Netflix has also entered the video podcast space, inking a deal with Spotify to bring video podcasts to its platform and investing in original video podcast programming, including "The Pete Davidson Show," which launched in January.Apple does not break out revenue for Apple Podcasts, but its Services segment, which includes digital content and subscription businesses, generated $30 billion in revenue in its most recent quarter. In January, the company acquired Israeli artificial intelligence startup Q.ai for an undisclosed amount, though details of the acquisition have not been released. Q.ai's website indicated it was working on audio-focused AI tools.
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