Netflix has been one of the top Google searches in the last month, and no wonder. Its bid to buy Warner Bros. movie studio and the HBO MAX streaming service, with Paramount trying to play the spoiler, has splashed down on the financial and entertainment industries.
ANKARA, TURKIYE – OCTOBER 23: In this photo illustration the Spotify logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of computer screen displaying the logos of Netflix in Ankara, Turkiye on October 23, 2025. (Photo by Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Yet, its announcement to add podcasts to its streaming service potentially has the most significant ramifications for the company and its ultimately what it wants to be.
First, Netflix announced that it was adding a selection of Spotify video podcasts to its platform in early 2026. The move, which will initially be available in the U.S. and later expand to other markets, includes popular titles from Spotify Studios and The Ringer, such as sports, culture, and true-crime shows. This expansion was intended to give subscribers a new way to consume content and compete with platforms like YouTube, which is a popular destination for podcasts.
Sign for iHeartRadio music radio, part of the iHeartMedia company, at the company’s local headquarters in the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood of San Francisco, California, October 13, 2017. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
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Then, Netflix announced an exclusive video podcasting partnership for more than 15 industry-leading original iHeartPodcasts. The agreement includes all new episodes from its podcast lineup, as well as select library episodes from each show. New video podcast episodes will launch on Netflix in early 2026 in the US, with more markets to follow.
Then, Netflix announced just this week that The Pete Davidson Show, a new video podcast, will be exclusively available on Netflix starting Friday, Jan. 30 at 12:01 a.m. PST with episodes dropping every week. Netflix promises more original podcast programming.
Why is the addition of video podcasts so significant? Simply put, Netflix wants to be more like YouTube. Despite the common perception that Netflix is the dominant streaming service, YouTube actually had 2.5 billion monthly active users in 2025, dwarfing Netflix’s 300 million subscribers.
POLAND – 2023/07/13: In this photo illustration a YouTube logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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The play for podcasting is all part of a strategy to capture more of the massive audience and viewing time YouTube commands, especially on TVs, by adding cheaper, personality-driven content, and expanding into live events/sports.
YouTube now often beats Netflix in total TV viewing time, becoming the primary distributor of content on TVs, forcing Netflix to compete for the same scarce user attention.
It’s essentially a defensive move to counter YouTube’s dominance and expand beyond traditional scripted series into more diverse, buzz-generating formats that keep viewers engaged. Netflix hasn’t limited its YouTube strategy to podcasting. Netflix has signed popular YouTube creators, such as Ms. Rachel, known for her “Songs for Littles” series, which helps infants and toddlers with speech, language, and social-emotional development through music, singing, and play, inspired by her own son’s speech delay. Netflix has also added live sports such as football on Christmas.
Now that we’ve answered the question of why Netflix has incorporated podcasts into ecosystem, let’s ask the next logical question: Has Netflix implemented the correct podcast strategy to accomplish its goals?
What is the Netflix podcast strategy?
“Adding podcasts to their lineup was a smart move,” observes podcast consultant George Witt. “Yet, I think they’ve made three mistakes. First, like the Golden Globes, Netflix views podcasting as a genre, not an industry. Second, Netflix doesn’t understand how video podcasts are actually consumed, and third, Netflix only considers celebrity-driven shows, when those shows attract less than one percent of all podcast listens/views.”
Like the Golden Globes with their first podcast awards, Netflix offers podcasts without regard to its genre, only assessing the cumulative number of user interactions. Mashing together news, interview shows, celebrity-driven conversations and self-help monologues doesn’t make much sense because that’s not how podcasting users consume their shows. Moreover, Netflix has created a “gated community” for their podcasts, rather than incorporating them seamlessly into their ecosystem.
Let me give you a concrete example. Netflix arranges its genres in rows. One row, for instance, is Science Fiction Movies, which is, according to Netflix, one of its most popular genres. Why would Netflix wall off a science fiction movie podcast from the section that includes all the science fiction movies? Passionate Sci-Fi fans go to that row on Netflix. A Sci-Fi movie podcast would be the ideal companion piece to a Netflix viewer binge-watching the Alien movie franchise. Why not place a tile in that genre for an award-winning podcast that focuses all its audio energy on Sci-Fi films?
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever is a video/audio podcast that, placed directly into Netflix’s Sci-Fi Movie section, could generate more podcast views and more subscriber interaction in that genre.
Ayesha Khan, Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever
For instance, there is a multiple award-winning podcast called Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever by Ayesha Khan. This Sci-Fi movie podcast embedded in the Sci-Fi movie section of Netflix would most certainly generate more listens and encourage users to remain in that genre, possibly watching the Sci-Fi movies covered in the podcast.
There is a popular section on Netflix for rom-coms. How about Love Factually, an indie podcast by two psychology professors who have developed a podcast that examines rom-coms through the lens of relationship science, empirical studies, and psychological accuracy?
Other streaming services have leveraged podcasts to encourage customer engagement and reduce churn. For instance, Disney Plus has developed companion podcasts for Only Murders in the Building, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Tell Me Lies, and that strategy has the benefit of attaching these podcasts to the actual content instead of consigning it to the walled garden Netflix had created.
The Video / Audio conundrum for Netflix
Video podcasts are often consumed as if they are audio shows, with consumers minimizing the screen or performing a task while engaged in the podcast.
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Second, YouTube doesn’t advertise the fact that almost half of video podcasts are listened to as if they’re audio podcasts. In other words, video podcasts are often minimized on a screen and listened to. That begs the question: Why turn on your TV and sign into Netflix to consume a video podcast if you are only going to listen – and probably be involved in another task – instead of the easier route of playing the show on your podcast feed or YouTube?
Therefore, Netflix can duplicate the success it had with the Song Exploder podcast, when, in 2020, it released four video episodes – featuring artists like Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, R.E.M., and Ty Dolla $ign. Song Exploder, previously an audio-only podcast, was reconfigured by Netflix as a video show. It was so successful that a second season was released.
For example, an award-winning audio podcast such as The Secret Life Of Songs by multi-instrumentalist Anthony Jackson would be ideal as a Netflix show. Jackson’s unique style is to deftly weave fine-grained musical analysis, historical context, and philosophical reflection with his own impassioned recreations of the music.
It’s not a popularity contest
Third, drawing from the video podcasts of only the large podcast networks ignores a basic fact of podcast fan behavior, and Netflix’s own foundational structure. When viewing Netflix’s infrastructure, it is designed by genre, enabling subscribers to scroll and find their chosen genre for this visit.
That is, in essence, the method by which Podcast Apps are constructed. Netflix narrow casts to micro-genres, just as podcasting does.
Netflix has designed its interface so that subscribers can find their favorite TV or movie genre, creating micro-genres for the specific tastes of its customers.
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Large podcast networks develop shows for the broadest popular tastes – celebrity, news, comedy, and true-crime. The bulwark of podcasting, however, is its niche features. Want a show about South Asian women empowerment. Try the Masala Podcast. How about a show for older people? Try Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age. Or Teaching through Emotions for teachers to help them deal with the burgeoning stress in this profession.
“Podcasts thrive because they serve interests, passions, events, and trends that TV, radio, and movies aren’t set up to address,” says George Witt. “Those podcasts should not be shut out of opportunities to have new audiences discover their uniqueness.”
“One of my favorite shows is Beef with Bridget Todd,” adds Witt. “The show is about famous rivalries, such as Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain, Harry Houdini vs. The Spiritualists, and Playboy versus Penthouse. It’s ideal for Netflix.”
A winning strategy for Netflix?
HBO MAX’s biggest hit is Game of Thrones. There are dozens of podcasts covering the show. The steaming service could incorporate those podcasts into its ecosystem to increase customer engagement.
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Despite its miscues related to incorporating podcasts into its ecosystem, Netflix has again out innovated the other streaming services. For example, HBO MAX with its Game of Thrones crown jewel, could have access to an entire ecosystem of podcasts about the show.
Paramount Plus has Star Trek, which is covered by over 100 podcasts. The company has yet to leverage that connection.
Coupled with its multi-pronged strategy to add podcasts to its ecosystem, along with other popular short form content, and live sports and events, Netflix is effectively taking on its biggest competitor, YouTube. Credit where credit is due. After all, Blockbuster thought that Netflix’s DVD mail-order service was a threat, when, in reality, it was Netflix’s foray into streaming that forced the company into bankruptcy.