Tag Archives: video podcasting

How An Internet Meme Conquered Video Podcasting

The top shelf of podcasting is a tough nut to crack.

To say there is “Joe Rogan and everyone else” is an oversimplification, but rooted in reality. When we ask podcast consumers in our research which shows are top-of-mind, whether or not they watch or listen, Rogan’s lead is astronomical. This has generally translated into massive consumption numbers, and Rogan’s early adoption of YouTube (the Joe Rogan Experience debuted in 2009), where his podcast boasts nearly 20 million subscribers, certainly has a lot to do with it.

Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan is the dominant brand in podcasting (Photo credit: Rokas Tenys / Shutterstock.com)

Newcomers have made dents, among them motivational speaker Mel Robbins, whose just over two-year-old show recently overtook Rogan as the #1 podcast on Spotify.

Some of the stalwarts of the space have approached video in different ways. NPR’s “NPR News Now” is on YouTube with a podcast that feels like watching a news story. Meanwhile, “The Daily” from The New York Times uses only a static image while playing the audio version underneath.

But several of the newer players in podcasting’s elite level have figured this video thing out.

Kylie Kelce’s “Not Gonna Lie” is only 10 episodes in and claims hundreds of thousands of views per show. Other podcasts that have been around awhile, like Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” (which boasts that it’s the top podcast among women) and Steven Bartlett’s interview formatted “The Diary of a CEO” are surging as YouTube’s popularity grows among podcast consumers.

And without YouTube, would the Hawk Tuah girl be one of the most popular podcasters?

I know you need to read that last sentence again. Take your time.

Hailey Welch was working at a bedspring factory in Nashville last summer when she was spontaneously interviewed on the street in the city’s rowdy Broadway district for a YouTube channel, Tim & Dee TV. While the questions started relatively tame, it was Welch that encouraged the hosts to “spice up the questions.” That led to “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?” Welch’s answer became an internet meme, forever labeling her the Hawk Tuah girl.

And that 15 minutes of fame could have been the end of the story as it so often is, but it was not.

Bloomberg podcast reporter Ashley Carman describes Welch’s remarkable six-month ascent from unknown to podcast celebrity. Someone in a position of influence had to notice (Jake Paul) and a platform had to offer backing (Paul’s Betr company), but the article mentions key points of strategy that led to Welch’s success.

According to David Tishelman, Head of Production at Betr Media, Welch is “entirely authentic and doesn’t know how to fake it. In our experience, those are the characters that resonate.” The team wisely deployed a social media strategy loaded with clips to emphasize Welch’s charming small-town origins.

In the last quarter, “Talk Tuah” was the 11th most popular podcast in the United States, according to Edison Research. It boasted nearly 12 million views on YouTube and 1.3 million unique listens on Spotify.

We’ll be releasing findings from a brand new study about video podcasting in the coming weeks. The study includes the effects of consumer usage of video and audio podcasting and how they complement (or don’t complement) each other.

So that’s where this blog should end. New talent discovered, coached, marketed properly, video used effectively, bam. But it doesn’t.

Strangely, there have been no new episodes since December 3rd. OK, not so strangely. The next day, after an episode quite timely titled “How to Avoid Getting Cancelled,” she launched a controversial meme coin that sunk in value and brought claims of a fraudulent scheme and lawsuits.

Just as you can grow a brand, you can torpedo one, too.

Maybe time will heal, and Welch will be back, or maybe we’ll never hear from her again. Either way, the lesson is the same.

Fresh talent that understands how to connect with consumers where they are is a very good thing for podcasting.

And maybe don’t launch a meme coin.

Why Podcasters Must Urgently Adopt A Video Strategy

Good morning from the world’s largest podcasting conference, Podcast Movement in Washington, DC! From the first time I attended this great event in Philadelphia six years ago, I felt an energy that always excites me about returning.

No one should debate podcasting’s strength as an audio medium. Like radio, there is power in the spoken word, in the ability to paint mental pictures and tell stories. It is magically portable. Easy to listen to on the go, whether in the car, while taking a walk, or riding the subway.

If you think about the ways early podcast consumers listened to podcasts, you might visualize this:

Apple Podcasts

Photo credit: Mojahid Mottakin / Shutterstock.com

The Apple Podcast logo was essentially the de facto logo for the medium, a true indication of the power of branding. Apple was the right platform for podcasting because the app was native to Apple devices—no need to go to the App Store and download it.

But consumer habits change.

While iOS is still the leading operating system over Android in the United States, it’s not by a ton (about 60%-40% according to TechRepublic), and globally Android dominates iOS (about 70%-30%).

So, it’s no longer just about the convenience of the native app on your phone. It’s what brands win the mind of the consumer. And it’s important to note some crucial changes that have taken place.

While Apple is a favorite of many creators, a remarkable thing happened to two other platforms on the consumer side.

  • Spotify went from 30 million active users in 2013 to 626 million in 2024.
  • YouTube went from 532 million active users in 2019 to 868 million in 2023.

Consumers made a behavioral shift to Spotify and YouTube because their brands grew, and they offered content their audiences found appealing. If you’re not putting extra energy into these platforms, you’re not fishing where the fish are.

One year ago, I presented the landmark “New Rules of Podcasting on YouTube” study at Podcast Movement in Denver with Steve Goldstein of Amplifi Media. This benchmark research project explored the perceptions and usage of video among American podcast consumers. Here are three key takeaways.

  1. 73% of podcast consumption is dominated by three platforms…YouTube, Spotify, and Apple.

One of these platforms is all video. One has publicly stated in recent months that it is going all-in on video. On my personal Spotify account, I’m now getting video podcast recommendations on my home page before audio versions.

  1. Consumers don’t see podcasting as an audio-only medium.

We were intentional in our study to not use the word “listen” when referring to a podcast because we felt it was important to understand whether consumers see podcasting as an audio-only medium. They used to, but they don’t anymore.

  1. More podcast consumers now say they consume their favorite podcast via audio and video than just audio.

If a fan of your podcast searches for a video version and it’s not there, do you think YouTube or Spotify’s algorithms will suggest other shows that will take your audience away from yours?

Of course they will.

After I presented this study, many subsequent conversations followed with creators and networks. We acknowledged that there is no “one size fits all” video solution for every podcast. Not every podcast needs to, or even should, offer complete episodes on video. Even if starting with the usage of video as a marketing tool, using trailers and clips, it is a great place to begin the journey.

And yet, there were two words I knew I could count on hearing from all of them.

“Yes, but”.

“Yes, but the views are miniscule relative to the time we spend”.

“Yes, but YouTube’s advertising restrictions are horrible”.

“Yes, but no RSS feed”.

“Yes, but we can’t sell it”.

“Yes, but I don’t have the staff”.

“Yes, but it’s a trend”.

As my therapist might say, your feelings are valid. But they miss the big picture.

Most of the research I conduct for podcasters at Coleman Insights is perceptual research. We may take a deep dive, for example, into the behavior of fans of Kids & Family podcasts or fiction podcasts. Maybe we’re digging into perceptions of sports podcast users.

This type of research is very different than top-line usage analytics, which don’t dig into brand images that influence behavior. Perceptions in podcasting are changing, and that is changing behavior.

In a couple of hours at 10:15 AM EDT, I’ll join a panel for a session called “Stop Leaving Impressions On The Table: Vodcasting Is Podcasting” moderated by Carl Weinstein, COO of Locked On Podcast Network. Locked On features a local podcast for every team in every major sport. Weinstein’s network jumped into vodcasting (video podcasting) years ago, and fully resisted “yes, but”. I asked him a few questions about their experience.

Q: When did Locked On embrace video? Why was it important for Locked On to embrace it early, when most podcasters are only now considering it as an integral part of their strategy?

A: We began adding the video simulcast of all our podcasts to our entire lineup in 2021. It was less about embracing it early than it was about meeting the audience where they were. The signs were already there in 2021, actually before then, that the audience was already defining a podcast differently than the industry was at that time. To reach the total potential audience, we needed to move towards them and could not expect them to move back towards us. We jumped in with both feet and never looked back.

Locked On Podcast Network Chief Operating Officer Carl Weinstein

Q: How has it performed compared to audio and what are some of the key differences? Why do you think it’s been so successful for you and not as successful for others?

A: Performance has been amazing. I think largely because we tapped into a totally new audience and also because discovery on the primary video platform, YouTube, is so much better than discovery on the traditional audio podcast apps. Hard for me to speak to what others are experiencing, but I think for us, we are tailor-made for the video platforms and experience. Our podcasts are daily, our podcasts are shorter than most others in the market (30 minutes or less), and we cover sports, targeting one of the most passionate, widest-reaching affinity groups in media.

Q: Seems many creators are concerned about tracking and attribution with YouTube. How have you handled that?

A: We have an amazing advertising ops team. We have developed our own systems and processes for tracking and reporting and have worked with our advertising partners to optimize each for their needs. We are also on OTT, both VOD (Video On Demand) and FAST TV (Free Advertising-Supported Streaming Television), so with each platform we must address a unique set of requirements and needs. Not necessarily easy, and certainly time and resource-consuming, but totally doable and worth the effort.