Is YouTube now the number 1 podcast platform?

YouTube's claiming it's the number one podcast

platform. Big words. But when you dig into the

numbers, it starts to look a bit,

well, lies, basically.

Let's talk more about it, shall we?

Hi, and welcome along to Podcasting Insights with the Podmaster.

I am the podmaster, Neil Velio. And YouTube's number one

podcast app status is claim is built on

shaky survey data, laughable engagement metrics,

and a definition of podcast so

broad it might as well include my neighbor's WhatsApp voice

notes. So today I'm asking you this question.

Is YouTube actually owning podcasting right now,

or is it just the latest platform to be playing games with its

PR? Let's get into it. Does

YouTube's billion user flex have something more hidden under

the hood? Well, YouTube says it has a billion podcast

listeners per month, which sounds impressive until you look at

what they're actually counting. It's people watching random news

clips, talk shows lazily repackaged

as podcasts, and anything with a

podcast tag slapped on on it, it seems.

And by all accounts, rumors suggest that YouTube

themselves are going into the studio logins

and changing some of the videos to podcast

status within the background. In other

words, if a creator has uploaded a video and not correctly

tagged it a podcast, they're helping them out with

that. Helping. Now, if Apple podcasts

and Spotify used YouTube's definition of engagement,

they'd be reporting numbers in the trillions. Does that

make sense? No, but it definitely makes for a great press

release, which is why YouTube's doing it, I

suppose. Maybe that's an idea for Apple Podcasts and

YouTube's 2026 marketing strategy. We'll

see.

So what is the big discrepancy? Well, it comes down to survey

data versus measured data. YouTube's

where number one status is based entirely on

survey data, not actual listening

stats. Now, according to Edison Podcast metric Stats, this

is from Edison research, they're saying

31% of weekly podcast listeners in the US say

YouTube is their go to Spotify are

counted at 27% and Apple Podcasts

15%, which sounds convincing until

you realize actual download data from podcast

hosting platforms tells a completely different story. Apple

and Spotify still lead in real measurable

podcast player plays, downloads and

retention. Meanwhile, YouTube is just over there

counting a single second of viewing as a listen. Like

it makes sense. Just in case this hasn't been clear enough for

you, the data that YouTube are claiming

is from people standing in the streets and going to people

they think are probably likely to listen to podcasts and saying to

them. Hey you, how do you listen to podcasts?

Are you listening in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on

YouTube? And much like it was in my radio days,

when most people didn't even remember the name of the radio station they listened to

all the time, but would go for the one that they sort of

remember because they've heard it somewhere, they'll go for

that option. So even if they are listening in Apple

podcasts, there's a good chance they could tell the survey

that they're listening in YouTube because it's a more recognizable

brand. And they might even think that. I'm pretty sure I listened

to that podcast episode in YouTube, didn't I? And

that data could be skewed by the fact that their friends are talking about

podcasts they're watching on YouTube versus they who listen

on their phone, probably on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

So you can understand where the problem lies. Recall

factor. And this is huge in any kind of survey data.

But let's move on to the real story here. This video versus

audio. Now let's

be honest about it. Yeah, YouTube is killing it in the video space

with podcasts. Spotify are doing their best to catch up. But

let's be real, a lot of their so called podcast viewers

aren't actually engaging in podcasts the way that we understand

them. Let's look at the gen Z Factor.

49% say video helps them understand tone and

context. 45% say they feel more connected

to the host through video. 84% of Gen

Z podcast listeners engage with video content.

So what does that tell us? YouTube isn't winning the podcast

war. They're just catering to a brand new

audience Now. I've been around a while in this podcasting game,

since before even Spotify was a thing. And I

remember when we had to download podcasts to an external

device using a USB cable or worse still through

a third party app to actually facilitate that download. And

I remember what the space looked like then. It was basically tech nerds

and weirdos. That was what podcasting was. Things have moved

on a little bit since then, but what I can tell you is there's still

a huge audience of my age and slightly

younger who will still be refusing to consume

podcasts via YouTube. Why? Because we

like listening. That's what we've become used to. If we

want to watch a video, it's because it's on something that interests

us that isn't a podcast. Sure, you might get the odd

podcast video version that straddles into our

choices. And we might watch them. But I can tell you

now, we pretty much all prefer the audio

version. And that's without even talking about the hidden costs

of YouTube's podcasts offering. Let's talk about the

reality of video podcasting here.

Yes, it has some perks, particularly for those

of a marketing persuasion. On the face of it, you get

more engagement, better discovery through

SEO, and potentially higher ad revenue. But

here's the kicker for you. It's not cheap and it's not

easy. You need proper cameras, lighting,

and an actual video setup that's gonna cost you quite a

bit. Editing a video takes longer, not just for the

episode itself, but for the social clips too. And let's be real

about it, not everyone wants video. A huge chunk of

podcast listeners are consuming in their cars, at the

gym, or while walking their dog, and they just want to

listen. And that's only from the consumer point of view. What about

from the creator perspective? Only a few days ago we talked

about how a lot of people are getting put off putting their podcasts on

YouTube because of public criticism. Michelle

Obama's podcast has been accused of being a

failure. If you want to go back and listen to the previous episode, we

talked all about this. So while YouTube might make sense

for some podcasters, don't fool yourself into thinking it's an

easy win. It absolutely isn't. So let's get down to the truth

of this. Let's wrap this up then. Yes, YouTube is a massive

player for videos. And yes, some of those

videos might be podcasts. It is great for

discovery if you learn how to play by YouTube's

secret rules. And even some established YouTubers

are still trying to get to grips with those. Good luck if

you're a brand new YouTuber coming from the podcasting world. And

for actual podcasting, as in in the traditional sense of the

word, Apple Podcasts and Spotify are

still literally running the show. So the next time

someone says to you, YouTube is the number one podcast app,

ask them, do you mean podcasts or do you mean

video content that's calling itself a podcast? And watch their

face as confusion takes hold. If you found this episode

useful, hit, follow or subscribe if you're watching this in YouTube and share

it with a mate who still believes the hype around YouTube owning

podcasting. And look out for another episode of Podcasting

Insights with the Podmaster showing up in your library really

soon. The Podmaster is a Podnos production.

Find out more about us at podnos.co

uk. Podnos.