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YouTube says podcasts now draw 1 billion monthly active viewers, a new sign of the Google-owned video giant’s scale and room for more growth as it embarks on its third decade.
The figure is extrapolated from another statistic, which found that more than 400 million hours of podcasts were seen monthly on living room devices in 2024. The company has previously asserted that it is now the most frequently used outlet for podcasts in the U.S.
YouTube has steadily been gaining overall share of viewing via TV sets as more viewers turn to streaming and cut the traditional pay-TV cord, according to Nielsen. Viewing of YouTube programming via a TV set has overtaken mobile and laptop viewing as the most popular form of viewing, a striking turn of events as the company marks its 20th anniversary.
“This milestone underscores how YouTube has come to play an essential role in podcasting for creators and audiences, and how our investments to improve the podcast experience on YouTube are paying off,” the company wrote in a blog post.
Because of the central role YouTube plays for TV networks, movie studios and marketers looking to circulate their content, podcasts from all producers have come to recognize the importance of having a version available on the video platform. Joe Rogan’s top rated podcast, for example, reaches a lot of viewer’s through Rogan’s YouTube channel, which has 19.4 million subscribers.
A number of recognizable names have jumped into the podcast game in recent years, including talent championed by YouTube. Former NFL star and sports commentator Shannon Sharpe, whose Club Shay-Shay podcast has been a breakout, collecting 83 million views of an episode featuring comedian Katt Williams. Sharpe appeared last May at YouTube’s Brandcast event for advertisers, touting podcasts as another way for the NFL to deepen its relationship with YouTube after the tech giant took over rights to the Sunday Ticket package.
Actress and singer Keke Palmer, computer scientist Lex Fridman and NFL brothers Travis and Jason Kelce are among the many other examples of prominent podcasters with sizable YouTube followings.
