YouTube presses play on a podcast homepage

The Future. Already the most popular platform for podcasting, YouTube is readying a formal push into the space with a new dedicated tab on the site’s homepage. That puts the company in direct rivalry with Apple, Spotify, and Audible. But with audiences clamoring for influencers to get into podcasting, YouTube may be the best place to launch a show and still have their face front and center.

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Per TechCrunch, YouTube will soon let users know it’s all-in on podcasts.

• While it hasn’t been officially announced, a report by 9to5Google found that YouTube is planning to launch a homepage for podcasts on its site.
• It would be featured next to other tabs like Gaming, Sports, and Fashion.
• When questioned, YouTube said that the podcast destination would allow users to “explore new and popular podcast episodes, shows and creators, as well as recommend podcast content.”
• For now, it will only be available in the US.

YouTube has quietly been making formal inroads into podcasting for a hot minute, hiring podcast executive Kai Chuk to lead the push. It’s also been offering big paydays to podcasters to film their shows.

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A report from Luminate found that YouTube is the most-used platform for podcasting, with 78% of listeners over the age of 13 saying they’ve used the site to stream shows. YouTube clearly realizes that it’s a major force in podcasting and now wants to wield that power to boost ad revenue (just maybe don’t expect dynamic ads).

And yes, YouTube is all about watching podcasts. The Luminate report also found that 59% of US listeners over 13 consume podcasts that way. No wonder Spotify is also trying to get into video podcasting (I mean, just look at the view count on Joe Rogan’s show when he was uploading to YouTube before his Spotify deal went exclusive… it’s massive).