Apple brings video to podcasts, rejects exclusivity

Apple is expanding video within its Podcasts app more than 20 years after it helped popularise the format through iTunes.

The update, due to roll out this spring, will allow people to watch episodes inside Apple Podcasts and switch between watching and listening without leaving the show. Users will also be able to view episodes in full screen and download them for offline playback.

The move brings Apple closer to rivals that have already expanded into filmed podcast formats. Spotify began rolling out video podcasts in July 2020 and later widened the feature. YouTube has become a major destination for podcast viewing, with many shows filming episodes as standard and building audiences through its recommendation system.

Netflix has also begun commissioning and licensing video podcast series as part of its push into creator-led talk formats.

Central to Apple’s update is a new advertising model that allows ads to be inserted directly into episodes played within Apple Podcasts. Creators distributing through approved hosting providers will be able to run these ads, including host-read spots, without paying Apple to publish their shows on the platform.

Apple will, however, introduce an “impression-based fee” for participating ad networks delivering those ads later this year.

At launch, support is limited to Acast, Amazon-owned ART19, Triton’s Omny Studio and SiriusXM, including AdsWizz and Simplecast. Apple said additional providers are expected to join.

“By bringing a video experience to Apple Podcasts, we’re putting creators in full control of their content and how they build their businesses,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services.

Unlike Spotify and Netflix, which have pursued exclusive deals to bring shows directly into their own subscription platforms, Apple is keeping distribution with third-party hosting providers. That allows creators to publish across multiple platforms while continuing to sell advertising through their existing partners.

Jack Sylvester, executive director at Flight Story and co-founder of The Diary of a CEO, said Apple’s approach stands apart from the exclusive deals struck by rivals.

“By partnering with hosting providers, they’re giving independent creators the option to monetise via dynamic video ad insertion, including host-read spots, without forcing them into a single platform,” he wrote on LinkedIn, describing the move as a “creator first” strategy.

Still, YouTube remains the leading platform for filmed podcast viewing, underscoring the scale of competition Apple faces.