For most of the digital era the podcast space has been easily understood as the place where radio went to avoid the death other media suffered. There has been an exponential growth in the form podcasts take since their radio-genre origins.
You can still listen to plenty of chats between hosts and guests about anything from celebrity news, politics, history, musical taste, movie and TV recommendations, to cultural curios. There are also distinctive creations that take the older format of radio dramas and reportage to new places, where digital technology is used to create intricately soundscaped documentary investigations and imaginative fictional worlds.
While the podcast space has been celebrated and embraced for its low barrier to access for creators and its diversity of the types of shows, a recent trend is threatening to change the podverse in ways that benefit neither audiences nor creators. That’s because the introduction of video so audiences can watch podcast hosts at work and in discussion has led to the rise of the anachronistic genre of the “video podcast”, a way for especially younger audiences to consume previously audio-only entertainment. As the youth go, so does advertising and so do the mega media corporations that have made significant investments in the podcast space in the past few years.
The rise of video podcasts means that the number one platform for podcast listeners is not an audio-only space, where listeners can use their imaginations to picture in their minds the interaction between hosts and guests, but YouTube, where they can simply watch it. Were this just another genre of podcast, another option to coexist peacefully with the others, it wouldn’t bear further scrutiny. However, as a recent announcement by Amazon worryingly indicates, 40 years after MTV and The Buggles gloated about video killing the radio star, video may, once again, spell the death of podcasting as we’ve come to know it.
In 2021 Amazon paid $300m to purchase the innovative, popular and successful podcast studio Wondery — responsible for the creation of several blockbuster series, including Dr Death, American Scandal and Business Wars. Wondery leveraged the popularity of its slickly produced, thoroughly researched content to lure large numbers of paid subscribers and create revenue that allowed it to employ talented investigative journalists and hosts that made it worth the fees for listeners.
On Monday the company and the broader podcast industry was shaken when Amazon announced that due to a strategy shift, it was laying off 110 Wondery employees and that the studio’s CEO, Jen Sargent, would also leave. Amazon’s decision is motivated by the shift in the podcast landscape towards video podcasting. It will now transfer its narrative podcast slate to its audio book service Audible.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Top creators who have video-focused podcasts, such as Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights, Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert and LeBron James Mind the Game will move to Amazon’s creator services team, where a team will work to further integrate the shows across Amazon and unlock bigger brand deals, with those titles still under the Wondery brand name.”
Steve Boom, Amazon vice-president of audio, Twitch and games, tried to placate Wondery employees by thanking those affected for their hard work, dedication and contribution to helping “establish Amazon as a leader in audio entertainment and creator partnerships”.
For podcasters who make content that isn’t easily augmented by video may be headed for dinosaur status, and that adage about “having a face for radio” no longer applies.
Most of the employees affected by Amazon’s layoff work in Wondery’s narrative division, where, according to sources who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, recent discussions about how to incorporate video into limited series and investigative reporting don’t seem to have generated the kind of ideas that could save them. Long-form narrative podcasts often involve longer turnarounds, higher production costs and fewer opportunities for ad revenue, all of which make them easier targets for axing or reduced investment.
Besides helping to ensure that YouTube now enjoys 1-billion monthly viewers of podcast content, video also helps to draw audiences to podcasts because you can post a clip of a video podcast to social media and that arouses interest on Instagram or TikTok audio clips cannot.
Some industry experts have tried to allay panic by arguing that video podcasting should be seen as separate to audio-only podcasting and that the two can coexist. However, decisions taken by corporations like Amazon and radio giant Audacy, which recently shut down its critically acclaimed Pineapple Street Studios, indicate they are not listening any more, and soon those of us who like our podcasts in our headphones and ears rather than our eyes might not be able to either.
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