Netflix continues to push beyond bingeable dramas and splashy films in favor of something more utilitarian and ever-on—the daytime talk show, reimagined as video podcasts. The streamer, which signed an exclusive video rights deal with iHeartMedia earlier this year and last week started streaming new episodes of Pardon My Take from Barstool Sports and The Colin Cowherd Podcast, is said to be pursuing more distribution deals. The bet is easy: bring a constant river of chitchat programming straight into the Netflix app, and turn what had been passive daytime TV kibble into a new engagement engine.
It’s a swing straight at YouTube’s domination. YouTube reports that viewers watched more than 700 million hours of podcasts on living-room devices this year, compared with 400 million a year ago—a 75% jump “on TVs alone.” And Netflix is of the opinion that those hours can migrate if it can induce among podcast listeners the sense of channel-surfing for the streaming age.
Why Podcasts Fit Netflix’s Daytime Ambition
Daytime has long favored inexpensive, high-frequency programming. Video podcasts tick all the boxes—regular drops, flexible runtimes, and production economics one-tenth of scripted TV. They also complement Netflix’s expanding advertising business, supplying brand-safe, repeatable inventory that can run all day without the expense of writers’ rooms or sprawling sets.
Edison Research says that podcast listening now hits almost half of Americans 12+ each month—and a lot of that consumption is “lean-back” background play while multitasking.
That’s an attitude reminiscent of daytime television in the classic sense. If Netflix is the default background spot for talky shows across news, sports, comedy, and culture, then it’s filling a hole where its offering hasn’t naturally landed.
There’s also a risk hedge. Podcasts can be relatively quick to spin up, less vulnerable to production delays, and portable across formats. For a company that drops millions on tentpoles, releasing a steady diet of talk shows is about spreading risk—but also daily retention.
The YouTube Benchmark That Netflix Wants
The growth is in connected TV, and YouTube owns that behavior. Nielsen’s The Gauge has routinely placed YouTube on or close to the top of TV usage in the US, and now you can directly measure YouTube’s podcast drive on chunky displays. That’s what winning looks like here, as it would force Netflix to turn podcasts into TV-native autoplay queues, easy discovery, and next-to-no friction for passive watching.
Netflix isn’t known for being an audio-first app, so anticipate product tweaks. Think background-friendly playback, live-like linear streams of podcast episodes, and recommendations that sew together talk formats with stand-up specials, docuseries, and reality franchises. The aim is a viewing loop that never feels like work, yet sells premium connected-TV ads at scale.
Early Dealmaking Signals Netflix’s Podcast Strategy
The deals with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports bring immediate volume and proven brand franchises, whereas the Spotify video-rights deal seeds cross-platform momentum. Industry talk has focused on talks with SiriusXM (a deal that would add another pipeline of talent and back catalogs). Unlike Spotify’s hedonic binge earlier—buying studios and tooling up—Netflix is licensing from media companies to gauge appetite without owning the whole stack.
That restraint may not last. If the early metrics look good, analysts say they expect at least one nine-figure splash for a marquee creator. Spotify’s deal with Joe Rogan, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, was north of $250 million, reset price expectations all over the creator economy. With revenue on pace to do about $45 billion this year, Netflix has space for some selective big bets that feel small on its balance sheet but seismic in the smaller universe of podcasting.
The calculus is straightforward: get must-see talent, envelop them in Netflix-level discovery and global reach, then transform some of those daytime browsers into nightly ad-supported viewers.
Creator Economics and Skepticism About Video Podcasts
Independent podcasters are divided when it comes to video. Some, like the long-running TWiT.tv network, have been making video versions for years and know there is an audience on big screens. Others learn that the extra cameras, editing, and scheduling add costs in a way that does not meaningfully lift downloads or revenue. A lot of audio-first creators feed back that their audiences aren’t asking for video, and that the pivot is largely driven by platforms and advertisers.
There’s also institutional memory. Spotify’s consolidation spree juiced the market, and then swung back with high-profile cutbacks and shuttered studios. Content makers dread a cycle of overinvestment and collapse. If Netflix sucks up both attention and ad budgets, who benefits: the few shows that get hoisted up onto the front page, or the long tail that makes podcasting a vital medium?
What to Watch Next as Netflix Tests Video Podcasts
Three signals will indicate if this succeeds.
- First, product: Is Netflix going to deploy background-friendly Play Next and autoplay channels in addition to robust podcast carousels on home screens across TVs?
- Second, talent: Will we see a wave of exclusive, ambitious talkers with daily or near-daily cadence?
- Third, ads and measurement: Will Netflix offer brand-safety tools, episode-level targeting, and verification that buyers have come to expect from daytime TV?
If Netflix’s answer is yes, video podcasts could be streaming’s answer to daytime talk: a low-friction, always-on format that softly lifts watch time and ad revenue. If not, the 700 million-hour head start that YouTube enjoys on TV screens is still the bar to clear.
