"Podcasting Is Hard" – Why Netflix Can't Compete With YouTube Podcasts

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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**Valuetainment Episodes** (0:30)
A Netflix story on what's going on with podcasting. So Netflix decides to get into the podcasting game. They do.
And they bought a bunch of big podcasts when they went into it. And Netflix, Netflix's video podcast engagement numbers are low per Insider, made a major push into video podcasts in 2025 Some of the big deals they did, Bill Simmons and the Ringer Network, Pardon My Take, Spittin, Chicklet, the Ryan Rossillo Show, iHeartMedia program, and I even think they got Barstool painting eight figures per year. Early results appeared disappointing according to Pucks, Matthew Bologna. Internal sentiment at Netflix suggest the investment has yet to generate strong engagement. Bologna reported that multiple company sources describe podcast viewership as low, perhaps most notably, to date. No podcast has charted on the Nielsen Weekly Top Ten. This is significant because Nielsen program frequently dominates Nielsen's rankings in these categories. Podcast struggles come as engagement growth slows. The concerns arrive alongside border questions, broader questions. Total viewing hours rose only 2% during the second half of 2025 Global subscribership increased 10% according to Moftis estimates that implies daily engagement per subscriber declined by approximately 8%. Tom, why is this so important and can they turn it around?

**Tom** (1:54)
I think they can turn it around, but it's going to be difficult. And I believe that they really whiffed on one thing, and that thing is focus. You got to know what you make and you got to know what you do and what you do well.
And Netflix is not in the podcast game. Netflix funds series. They fund damn good series. They fund movies. They buy rights to certain movies, Pat, that turn out to be beautiful.
And what's really interesting about this is podcast is a big category. Podcast makes content. We make content. Podcast needs subscribers. We have subscribers, and so they went out to do it. But I think what they went out to do is they made a couple acquisitions of things like Breakfast Club and Bill Simmons, but they paid a hell of a lot of money for them. Maybe overpaid. Now, maybe they thought that that was the Rush Limbaugh contract for EIB Network, Excellence in Broadcasting, or they thought it was the Howard Stern contract for Sirius Satellite Radio.
Those are big anchor contracts that got people in the business. But I actually think that the podcast world is more difficult than they think. And I think they overpaid for what they got into it, and they're having trouble being a destination for the podcast. Because look what people have to do. So you have to decide, okay, I'm going to go watch on Netflix or I'm going to watch somewhere else. Are the things on Netflix available at other places?

**Adam** (3:32)
No, it's just on Netflix. Right.

**Tom** (3:35)
Exactly. So, what do you do? Whereas on Spotify, we're on Spotify.
We're also on YouTube, on the video version, actually video on Spotify too. But I think they lost focus, Pat. I honestly think they lost focus and they thought they could just open their checkbook, buy a few of them. But you have to remember, they're not just in the podcast business. They're trying to be in the exclusive provider to you and me business. And that's not how podcast works right now.

**Adam** (4:01)
Adam.
Look, podcasting is hard. Business is harder. And being in the business of podcasting is probably the hardest thing ever. Because for anybody out there, I mean, I never watched one podcast on Netflix.
I'll go to YouTube, I'll go to Spotify to see what's out there. I didn't even know that these things are doing there. But look, they're going into a red ocean. We talk about going into blue oceans a lot. Going into a red ocean, it's not easy. And they're finding out that this is a very hard business to do. That's it.

**Valuetainment Episodes** (4:34)
And Pat, I think Tom made a great point. Tom, I'm going to elaborate a little bit. Think about it.

**Adam** (4:38)
On YouTube, if you want to watch the PBD podcast, you go in there, they send you notifications.