Spotify now has more than 100,000 video podcasts. How’s that working out for creators?

Podcast creators on Spotify and YouTube keep hearing it: if they post video versions of their episodes, they’ll reach more listeners and build stronger connections with their core audience.

James and Anthony Deveney, hosts of Raiders of the Lost Podcast, tell Tubefilter they think that’s true.

“Video podcasting is a format that we adopted day one with our show and moving to Spotify opened the door for us to share the video version of our podcast with as many listeners as possible,” they say. “We saw the signs of high engagement implementing video years ago, plus the potential for growth it offers by standing out in the booming industry of podcasts. Video gives us a personal connection to our listeners because they feel even more like they’re in the studio with us and Spotify has helped us achieve goals that were only dreams a few years ago.”

Spotify has been investing in video podcasts since 2020. Since then, it’s done multiple video-forward deals with established podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience and with content creators like Markiplier and Drew Afualo.

All that investment is pushing video growth, Spotify says.

It now has more than 100,000 different video podcasts on its platform, and says it sees a preference for video podcasts between 6 p.m. and midnight, when people are “winding down and primed for ‘leaned-in’ viewing.” From 1 a.m. to 5 p.m.–prime listening-while-dozing-off, listening-while-commuting, and listening-while-at-work hours–people are still more likely to engage with audio-only podcasts.

Some other data Spotify gave us: Video podcasts in general are “growing in popularity across the spectrum, but some categories have more viewership than others.” Comedy is Spotify’s top video podcast category; it accounts for 27.55% of all video podcast listening/viewing time.

Spotify says it plans to “invest more deeply” in video podcasting in 2024, “with plans to improve both the creation and listening experience.”