521. Is Video Podcasting Worth It for Indie Creators?

0:05 Marc Ronick: Good morning, Today is Wednesday, May the 20th, 2026 And today, podcast news asks some big questions. Is video podcasting finally manageable? Are we thinking about discoverability all wrong, and could Amazon turn creator podcasts into the next So, if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button, top right-hand side of the screen, and share it however Clubhouse lets you. And if you're catching us via podcast, YouTube, etc. please share this episode with a fellow seconds, and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here. The podcasting morning show is powered by Ironic Media, helping podcasters launch, polish, and grow great shows, and by Content Creators Accountant, helping creators build real business behind their content.

1:15 Good morning again. Podcasting morning show. Thank you so much for being here. I am your host, Mark Ronick. co-hosts Jonathan Howard, Ralph E. Step, Dr. Fay, Alex Ballish, and BC Babbles. We'll see who else from the cast and crew will be joining us this morning, and if you want to learn more about them. I haven't said this in a Go to Podcasting Morning show.com/people and you will be able to click on each person's name that you just heard me say and learn more about them and why they're on this stage with me. So, before we dig into today's show, I wanted to share with you that our spotlight series, although I don't feel prepared to, I don't have my usual notes in front of me about it, but I think I've been talking about it long enough that I, it shouldn't be a problem to tell you. If you go to Podcasting Morning show.com/spotlight this is your opportunity to submit a clip, audio or video of your show, something from you telling us, introducing your show to us, right?

2:23 This is not going to cost you anything. This is free of charge, no strings attached. We just want to put our fellow spotlight here at the Podcasting podcast, so that we can support one another. That is one of the biggest benefits, I think of this particular community is that we support each other. We were just sharing an example the other day of that, where people just want to help one another out, whether they're joining, jumping on your show, or collaborating with you on social media, et cetera. This is such a supportive community, and we want to put pay it forward by putting you in the spotlight, so submit your 62nd clip again to Podcasting Morning show.com/spotlight and I see we've had, we got some people to join us here on the virtual stage here on Clubhouse.

3:17 Junaid and Tide, aka Nikki, have joined us. Good morning to both of you. guys, before we hit the music distracted this morning. I know I've shared briefly that my wife, Amy, is in the hospital. She's dealing with some health stuff, clearly being in the hospital, and yeah, it's just been a lot overall. She's going to be okay, but there's a lot going on that needs to be handled. So, thank you, Ralph. Ralph, showing me prayers. Yeah, it's a lot I would normally share, but my wife has asked me to keep it private for now, and I know that she eventually will allow me to share. It's just that some of the news we've received is fresh, and we need a little time to process, so I'm respecting her wishes and asking for thoughts and prayers at the same time. So, thank you just for bearing with that, and if I'm a little scattered today, that's probably why. All right, enough of that.

4:19 Let's dig into our news. So, today, well, like I do every week on Wednesday, when it comes to podcast news, let's start with some data, and I like to start first with the Podcast Business Journal, and I'll explain why this particular say, overall, a helpful number to understand is the amount of podcasts being created, specifically the active podcasts still being updated and therefore actively marketing themselves. So, if you're making podcasts, you might consider this. This particular number to be your competition, rather than that big overall 4.6 5 million podcasts that we hear exist out there, which they do, but they're as far as whether or not publishing episodes, staying another story, so the total somebody is unmuted and I'm Total podcasts updated in the last week, 194,058 which is up one and a half percent from the previous week, and also if we look at this from a 30 day updated over this past month is 367,938 which is down under a

5:49 percent from the previous month. Okay, so with that, let's go to Dr. with our top five lists for today. D.R. Fay: Hey, good morning. So today's top five is Spotify's top five business podcasts. Okay, Marc Ronick: okay, D.R. Fay: so number five is the Morning Daily. I'm sorry, the Morning Brew Daily already. show, The Ramsey Show. Number three is Financial Audit. I come back and talk about that in a second. Number two is PBD Podcast, and the number one podcast for business is The Diary of a CEO with Stephen Bartlett. Marc Ronick: Now that's not a surprise, that show is just something else.

6:38 I mean, the guests he brings in, the way that he promotes that show, D.R. Fay: yeah. The production, it's no wonder. Hi, Marc Ronick: yeah. D.R. Fay: I want to talk a little bit about number three, the financial audit with Caleb I don't know if any of you have seen what this guy does. For some reason, he, he pops up on my feed every now and then, he gets people on his show, and he, it's like tough love without the love part. He completely chews them up and spits them out, and people want to be on his show. It's like, oh, please hit me bigger and make it kind of thing. I Marc Ronick: remember you telling me about this, either on or off the show?

7:22 I can't remember, but I remember you talking about this, so crazy. three this week. Okay, Dr. I guess it's kind of the way I relate to this, the way the excuse I give for the people who actually go there to just get destroyed. I think it's like similar to getting roasted, that's the way I'm looking at this. D.R. Fay: Yeah, but there's no Ronick: right. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna steer us off course for just a quick second. Has anyone seen the latest roast on Netflix? D.R. Fay: That's for the short guy, the short, yeah, yeah. Marc Ronick: Kevin, Kevin Cart.

8:03 the short guy, that was what That's so funny, but it is hilarious. I've gotten through about half of it, and it is hilarious. So, if you're into roasts, go check that out. Okay, go ahead, Dior. D.R. Fay: Okay, so the random chart this month. Well, they're both kind of random, if you really want to know about. Okay, the random chart is Apple's leisure chart. Okay, so the number five is Mojo in the morning. Number four is the Smoking Tire, which is all about automotive. Number three is Duck Call Room, which is those the Robinson's family, you know, number two critical role, and number one is Ante Up.

8:48 It's a poker podcast. Marc Ronick: Oh, okay, very cool. I have not heard any of those. I think Duck Call Room, yeah, that's Duck Dynasty. Duck D.R. Fay: Dynasty, I was trying to think of the name. Marc Ronick: Yes, D.R. Fay: yeah, Marc Ronick: yes, yeah. Okay, cool. Thank you, Dr. Appreciate your top fives as always. And now here's the point where I stall because I'm gonna hit this button. Jingle: Quick tip, smart move. Marc Ronick: Oh yeah, content creators business fight. Yes, Dr. I went off. I went off the rundown. I totally just bypassed how we usually do it. minute, but we're gonna do the with Ralph Estep, and that's one this, is because it's brought to you by Ralph Estep, the Content Creators Accountant. Go to Content Creators accountant.com if you're looking for help to get your content creation finances in order. I personally have hired Ralph to be my accountant, both with my business, Ironic Media, and also personally as well. So he has been such a pleasure to work with, and has really helped make the finances thing feel less intimidating. Less overwhelming, and he's really gentle with you about it. So, D.R.

10:04 Fay: if you're a vulnerable am so vulnerable, and Ralph, you for me, and I don't, I don't feel stupid asking the stupid questions, Marc Ronick: right? Yes, yeah, I'm with you there, yes, he helps you not feel so stupid about those questions, because Ralph hears them all the time, so it's not something he's going to stop, and he's not here to judge you, he's here to help. So, go to Content Creators accountant.com and learn more about Ralph, and sign up for a discovery call with him while you're there. And with that, Ralph, what do we got for today? Ralph Estep Jr: Well, thank you everybody, and thank you for those kind comments, and yes, times with our finances. I've been there too, so I always bring that to the table when I talk to people.

10:48 But the first thing I want to talk about is a follow-up from last week. If you recall, last Wednesday we talked about Spotify winning on match time, but YouTube wins on Discovery. Well, I was listening, and if you remember, last week we had a little discussion about, is this really a fair comparison? And this morning I was in the gym, and I was listening to On In and Around Podcasting with Rob Walsh and Elsie Escobar, and it's interesting. Rob sort of thought the same thing that I did, and I'm going to give you a quote from the show. I wasn't able to pull a clip, but I can read a quote. It says, but I think there might be another key factor at play. This is Rob speaking, and that is on Spotify. If you close the screen on a video podcast, it keeps playing on YouTube. It does not, per the default settings on both devices. Spotify will keep playing in the background, YouTube will not. Now Rob reached out to the person who is from Pod stock and Pod stock got back to him and said, yeah, we didn't consider that, that was not something that we seem that we thought was relative, but I agree with Rob that I think that numbers are going to be skewed comparison, and it's not a true comparison, if you put the phone in your pocket on YouTube, it will stop playing, versus in Spotify it won't. And I just wanted to bring it to everybody's attention. It wasn't like an aha, Ralph was right moment, that's not at all where I was going with that, but it's just something we have to think about when we look, and we, when we hear data, we always have to remember there is some bias in the data, there's bias in the way the data is collected. So I just wanted to throw that

12:20 out there before we got too far in, Marc Ronick: yeah. And I know that I saw Matt put it in the chat, and we talked about this last week. Matt, yes, if you pay for YouTube, if you pay for the playing even in your pocket, So that, that is the difference, but I think if we're comparing apples to apples, free service versus free service, I think that's what Ralph is sharing, but BC, I think you also had something. Go ahead. BC Babbles: Yeah, it's so funny. Good morning, everyone, that you mentioned this, because I was at, so I was at the Seed the South conference yesterday, and I met this guy named Marcus, and he is building a platform that addresses the same exact issue, where you know a lot of content on YouTube is not available on, say, Apple Music or on Spotify, so he's built a platform that takes audio from YouTube and transcript or transduces, transmits it into a Spotify playlist, so that anything that's not actually through licensing or whatever available from YouTube to Spotify, he's got a custom playlist of those things that is available to him on Spotify through this app he's built, and so I think it's so crazy that Ralph is mentioning this, because I'm like, I just had this conversation yesterday about the same issue with Marc Ronick: Wow, that's funny.

13:38 Okay, and by the way, say again, where you are this week, BC Babbles: so yesterday and Capital Summit in Charlotte, awesome, awesome. you, BC, how do we, because I where should we follow you if we Seed of the South? BC Babbles: BC Babbles is where I am across all socials. If you want to go to my Beacons, there. Marc Ronick: Very cool. Thank you, BC. And I see we've got some things going on in different chats here over on YouTube. Our guest from yesterday, Jody Krangle, is joining us, and she said that she feels like YouTube needs to change the way that they're doing things, even with the free version.

14:18 She thinks they need to need to make it so that we can hear it, even if our phones are in our pocket, and then she also said she's never paid for because she needs to hear the person. So I think that's.. I get that I wasn't putting that together until you said it, And then over on Clubhouse, Dave YouTube, but he says I play the video with my phone in my pocket when I'm at work. Besides the constant commercials, it plays fine. Now, Dave is probably doing that, but with the phone not in sleep mode, right? So basically, the screen must be lit up in your pocket while you're doing that, which could cause.

14:59 Problems, if you bump up know it could, like, if you even while it's in your pocket, it something you don't want it to All right, let's go back to Ralph with today's new content creator business bite. Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, this is the new one, and this was leaked, actually, on podcasting 2.0 Friday before last, and here's what we're talking about. new partnership with Podpage, podcast creators. I'll talk to you about why. For many podcasters, having a great, but it's also expensive, it's time consuming, and honestly, it's a little You got to think about design, episode pages, updates, plugins, that comes with maintaining a But here's the great news: through this new partnership, Blueberry creators now get access to a podcast website powered by Podpage, and it connects directly to their RSS feed, that means when a creator publishes a new episode, their website can update automatically, no extra uploading, no complicated website management, no need to start from scratch. And that matters, because a podcast website is more than just a landing page, it's a digital home for your show. It gives your listeners a place to find your episodes, they can learn more about you, and it can connect with your brand, and they can share your content more easily. And it also helps with exposure with SEO-optimized episode pages.

16:31 Creators have better chance of showing up in search results, better chance of being discovered outside the podcast apps, and a better chance of reaching people who may not have found the show otherwise, and that's value, because every creator wants more visibility, but not every creator has the budget to hire a web designer or pay for extra tools or spend hours managing a website, and this partnership really helps solve that problem, gives podcasters a more professional online presence while helping them save money, you know, I'm all about money, it helps them save money, helps them save time, and focus more energy on creating great content. So, my business bite is this blueberry and pie page are digital storefront, better way to grow their shows without adding more cost or more work.

17:18 And for independent podcasters, especially, that's a smart move, and it's a valuable move. So, that's my business bite for today. Marc Ronick: Thank you, Ralph. This is an interesting story. And first, let me say, I think it's a brilliant move. I think Blueberry, adding this, because, like, I, I think that when we see a lot of these podcast hosting platforms, the website or web page that they provide are mediocre at best, right. They're great to have if that's really all you can do as a content creator, but really other than giving your audience a central place to go to consume your content. But now a situation like Blueberry bringing in Podpage as a partnership that seems really smart right now. They don't have to worry about creating something like Podpage, and they can provide a real service to their community. So, I think that's brilliant, and I'm curious, what people think when you hear that that Blueberry is handling the website piece over to when they're handing it over to Blueberry, does that feel like a smart partnership? And do you think that maybe Ralph, maybe I'll go to you first.

18:31 Do you think that this is something that we'll see more platforms like Blueberry adopting? Ralph Estep Jr: Oh, I think amount of consolidation in the Actually, I was talking with another guy, his name is Randy Black. He joins the show sometimes. I met him in other circles, and him and I both feel like we're going to see a You might see a consolidation in fewer hosts. You may see more hosts adopting things like Podpage and trying to bring in this all for one feeling. Now, I've got some, I've got some concerns about that, because when you've got fewer options, that can make things go up in price, so that could be part of this as well. But no, Mark, I honestly think this, especially as we move into I just launched a video yesterday through HLS with Apple real big push to try to get everything on a single platform, and I think that Podpage and Blueberry were brilliant in doing this, because you know the thing is, when you look at a hosting platform, they're very similar, and if you've got something that just adds, you know, a little star to it, I'm gonna go make that decision based on that, so I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the other players, like Captivate, and some of the other players start to do something in that same vein, because, as Brendan says from Podpage, he doesn't want to be a hosting company, he doesn't want to be this, he doesn't want to be this. So, if you do that through strategic partnerships, I think everybody benefits from that.

19:55 Marc Ronick: I agree with that is, is if more. Hosting platforms do this, then it feels like everyone's going to have a pod page, right? Like, it feels like maybe it waters it down a little bit, almost, in my opinion. And there are some other points that I find interesting. Jodi, in the YouTube chat, says that she understands why that they made this move, but having it associated with the podcast hosting platform means that if you change hosts you potentially can lose your website, and so she's recommending to be careful Podpage is great. She says, don't get me wrong, but if you want true autonomy, she said she'd probably say just go get a Podpage account, and I kind of agree with that, Ralph Estep Jr: and that'll be plays out, and I'll reach out to question, because the way RSS feed, and I'm assuming even with this partnership with Blueberry, it's going to do I asked Dave about this on his show on Saturday, and all he would say was, now it's almost instant with this connection, so Jody, because your RSS is still going to feed Podpage, but it's a legitimate concern. Marc Ronick: Fair enough.

21:10 And then I just saw another great point, or at least a yeah, a good point of interest here is that Dave says, surprised by this announcement, because Todd Cochran, who we lost around a year ago. At this point, it says Todd Cochran was so WordPress disdain for Podpage in the past. Blueberry is on a new path with Todd gone now. Rest in peace. point, Dave. Right, like now, look, yeah, you have to, we've lost a leader in this space, and a leader at Blueberry, and you have to make adjustments, not that he didn't like Podpage or the people there, more so just that he feels that WordPress was a better option for us as podcasters to use. BC, I know you have something, I go to you, and then Matt, I know you have something as well, so go ahead, BC. BC Babbles: Yeah, my question, while I've been listening, has been changing a lot.

22:06 I had one, you're the ones, but I'm curious as to whether or not, is this going to be something that's best for people who have podcasts that are come on words, words are hard in the morning. hold Jingle: on, coffee's hot, brain is not, mouth says glory. And guess I forgot. Words are hard in the morning. Did I say that out loud? Marc Ronick: Please continue. be more beneficial for people who've got podcasts that are isolated or are not related to their businesses, whereas would it be best for those who like me have a business and a related page and that's all I need, like will this be beneficial for one or the other? Marc Ronick: Ralph, your thoughts? Ralph Estep Jr: I can, I can jump right in there because I actually have a business website I think the two can live together, and I think there's value in that. I really like Podpage - it's going to sound like a commercial Podpage.

23:06 I really like Podpage because it makes it simple, it brings in the RSS feed, it populates a transcript, it does all of that stuff for you. So, for the person that doesn't have a team or doesn't have a web designer, I have no interest in WordPress. because of all the crazy So, honestly, bc, like, you know, I'm working right now with my publicist, we're actually building a Ralph Estep brand page, and we're gonna take that, and we're gonna, we're gonna layer that amongst the pod page and amongst my accounting site. So, I actually, I still think I don't think it's a big win for podcast, because otherwise you know the thing is, here's what got to think about the people who can afford major web web presences are people who are on a network, and the network has a team of people that are building those websites. This gives the person who is just able to cover the cost of hosting a really nice front end, you know, display front on the web, and I think that's a huge thing. Marc Ronick: Thank you, Ralph.

24:04 Let's check in with Matt, and then I see Stacy Sherman has joined us on stage, old friend of ours, so we'll hear from her too. Go ahead, Matt. Good morning. Matthew Bliss: Good morning. Written in the chat as well, my first comment to something like this is, good, fast, cheap, pick two, that you can't have all three things usually at the same time without an amount of effort, so without going into the in poopification of the covered that adequately. I think the benefit for podcasters here we need to be real about is that if you don't have the time or the good because it gives you a but I think every podcaster, no excuses, should eventually be graduating from a service like hosting service that gives them more, more ability to customize and grow as they go on. Now, to that, it sounds like I'm. Saying become a web developer, it really isn't that complicated anymore, and there's a few podcasts I can recommend that to talk about SEO in the modern age and the AI age, essentially SEO and search authority and all these things aren't as complicated as we make them out to be, but I think services like Podpage and Beanly, and services like that make it sound like it's the hardest thing in the world. So just know that you can graduate from this and move on something else that gives you

25:34 your brand. It doesn't have to be the only thing you ever do. Marc Ronick: Well, I certainly will agree with you that it doesn't have to be the only thing you'll ever do, and I do feel like Podpage has really worked hard at being as customizable as possible, and they've even added a lot of SEO features to it as well to really mean, I see both sides of it, and I guess maybe because I'm so for a while, like I think it's serving what our needs are, but yeah, if we at some point outgrow it, then we'll consider moving it, but right now I feel like we're in a good spot, and it works well. Ralph Estep Jr: I feel bad now, Matt. It seems like I need to graduate, man. I thought I had already graduated, but that sounds like I'm..

26:25 I'm still in kindergarten or something like that. Matthew Bliss: This is.. this is avoid, and I tried to make it as terms of that, because it's very Like, I think about it myself, you know? I had a square.. I've had a Squarespace.. I've had a Squarespace site for a very long time for my business, MB pod.com gradually been growing over time, but for rethinking podcasting I've had a past page.io/beamly account that I used for that, just for ease of growth, but now because my podcast business domain is where I want all the activity to probably move on from podcast page.io and instead start integrating my podcast on my website, because that's where the business stuff is going to I'd rather not have two paths that people can walk and not be aware of one or the other, and it's those kinds of chats where you start to get to the point where you go, oh, okay, webmasters and SEO firms and AI optimization, and that's when you start seeing quotes like 2500 $3,500 just to redo a website. The only reason it costs that much is because the expertise isn't required as much anymore, and if you do need it and don't have the time, you'll probably have the budget, so it costs an insane amount of money, but you don't have to, it's not about taking a course or graduating anything. For Gabe, I'm about to share the link to the podcast that I've been listening to for the last little while, that I think is excellent for this.

27:56 Marc Ronick: What's it's called? It is Matthew Bliss: called CEO effing what I don't think I can say they technically asterisk it in the title, but Nikki Pilkington is a decades on her SEO experience, and she is a shill for classic SEO. She really hates the AIO and GIO of things, but she includes in every single episode a list of five to 10 things that you can do right now for the website that you're managing yourself for SEO, and anybody can use them, so I'd highly recommend having a listen to that in the context of it being a graduating point, but not graduating a degree, just to be able to do Marc Ronick: it.

28:37 Cool. Thank you for that tip, Matt. Appreciate it. And I want to check in with Stacy, who's been waiting on stage patiently. Go ahead, Stacy. Good morning. Stacy Sherman: Good morning. So I think it's a both and scenario. I believe that if you're just starting out and you don't know what to do, and it's the technology that makes you not take the mic out of the box, to quote myself, then this is a great solution. If you are out of that phase. I'm 100% having my podcast assets all on my own website, and for that SEO value, what I've come to test and learn is that ChatGPT and others are looking for questions and serve up the recommendations, so the landing page of that episode, and rather than bring people to a separate site, it's bringing people to mine, and then they're getting to know me, and so I really recommend I'm in the camp of use your own website, no matter what.

29:41 After you're at the first launching and getting comfortable stage. Marc Ronick: Very cool. Thank you, Stacy. So, what you're doing then, just so I'm clear, and the audience is clear, you're saying that your main, let's call it business website, also likely has a tab that says something. Like podcast, and then they click through there. Stacy Sherman: Yes, and so every effect with Q and A section from that show is getting rewarded from the chat engines, and if you don't, if you don't do it to your own site, you're losing an opportunity for people to say, have a blog, they wouldn't have interacted with that and shared it on social media if I didn't them somewhere else. So I'm a big proponent of your own website. Marc Ronick: Thank you, Stacey and Ralph. You were just putting something in the chat there.

30:43 want to make it clear? With Podpage, you use your own domain if you choose to, and all the things that Stacy mentioned, I do all my own My blog is there, I link to all those things, so I am getting the SEO value from those Podpage websites. Marc Ronick: Maybe we'll get back, so that we can really dig into advantages, you know, in maybe, or maybe we find somebody and I say that because if we bring Dave or Brandon from Podpage, if we bring them in, I don't know if we're going to get the most balanced answer right, because they're obviously going to promote Podpage, rightfully so.

31:25 So, maybe we bring them in, maybe we bring some others in, and we have a little open forum discussing that. So, I think maybe that's what we'll do. I appreciate everyone's feedback. I am, like I said, a big fan of Podpage. We're sharing the link to it, it's my affiliate link, so if you click that, that just extra cash from it. It doesn't mean you have to pay more, it just means we get a commission from it. And as a user of it, I'm very confident sharing that affiliate link with you. Okay, now to satisfy Dr, since we totally skipped over our usual agenda.

32:06 D.R. Fay: Thank you. Marc Ronick: You're welcome, Dr. reminder too, because if you were watching on camera, you could see Dr. was very distraught when I skipped it, and I guarantee you that there are people in your audience that do the same thing when you break your normal format, it's jarring when you're used to it as a listener, hearing a show go a certain way, follow a certain format, and then they break it. I'm not saying that's bad or good, because in some ways I created that, what we talk about here sometimes, that pattern disrupt, it was where maybe the listener was starting to lose focus, maybe they were focusing on they were doing their laundry and stopped kind of paying attention to the show. Breaking a rhythm can sometimes reel them back in, right? Ralph Estep Jr: And Mark, I also shenanigans this morning too, as it was climbing up her back while she was trying to want to pay attention to us this morning. D.R.

33:03 Fay: He never does that. I don't know what is different about today. Yeah, that was Prozac, and he was.. Marc Ronick: that's the name of your cat. D.R. Fay: Yes. Marc Ronick: How did I not know that? D.R. Fay: I have Prozac, Xanax, and Ziggy. Marc Ronick: Ziggy, okay? I don't know what medication that is, but D.R. Fay: all signees, all signings. Marc Ronick: That's so funny. All right, cool. All right, let me share some events with you around the world of podcasting. This should be relatively quick. First, building a real business around your content, and this is podcasters, YouTubers, and creator-driven entrepreneurs, the live online masterclass explores how creators can build sustainable businesses around their content through audience ownership, intellectual property, strategic monetization, and proper legal and business structures.

33:56 Attendees will learn practical frameworks for moving beyond platform-dependent revenue models and building long term enterprise value that is a paid event, but it's just $7 and if you're interested in that, it happens may 28 at 10am Pacific time. It's a couple hours long, and if you want more information, just go to Make a mogul.com that's where you'll find more about the event. Also, this is an interesting one. Companies orbit, and all right, hit it, hit it for me. Ralph, Jingle: coffee's hot, brain is not. Mouth says glory. Guess I forgot.

34:37 Words are hard in the morning. Did I say that out loud. Marc Ronick: Companies Orbit and declaring july 4 Independent Podcasters Day, and yes, that pun is very much intended. The new annual event is being framed as a global celebration of creators who built. Shows their own way outside the big corporate podcast machine. The website Independent Podcasters day.com will feature creator stories, case studies, and a public roll call of people and companies pledging support for independent the goal is to support, represent, and empower independent creators, while recognize the people doing the behind the mic, and honestly, is a reminder that independent foundation of this industry, big headlines, as we know on days, do the news, but indie the experimentation, the connections still happen. So, again, to learn more about this, I'm going to go sign up for it.

36:01 Go to Independent Podcasters day.com Did somebody have a question or want to say something? Was that UBC? No. Okay. Last item to share, as far as events go around the industry, the Empowered Podcasting Three Conference is just over three months away. When I wrote that down today, I was like, what, I know, it's May, and I know the event's the math, it's like, okay, we thankfully we are in a great all the things that we're So, from August 20-first through the 20-third in Charlotte, North Carolina, you'll be surrounded by creators who understand the grind of growing a show, building an audience, and figuring out what comes next.

36:46 You'll learn from people doing the work, making real connections, and leave with the ideas that you can actually use. podcast, or even start a join us at Empowered Podcasting, All right, some news bites for Dr, did you have something? You just came off mic. D.R. Fay: I was supposed to read the first little, okay, never Marc Ronick: got it. You got it. Mark's a little distracted this morning. Hi, I D.R. Fay: see my name. Okay, so Paramount's big podcast plan has entered the chat. Paramount is reportedly exploring a bigger podcast strategy with talks involving Katie Miller, the Paragon Collective, Jubilee Media, and other possible partners. The bigger move appears to be less about let's make a few shows and more about distribution, monetization, and video-first podcasting.

37:50 Paramount already has podcasts tied to brands like news, sports, lifestyle, and entertainment, but now it seems to be eyeing podcasts in another way to keep audiences inside its content machine, because apparently owning a TV, owning TV, film, streaming, and Pluto still leaves room for another tab open on their browser, so some of the highlights are Paramount, maybe shifting from simply producing podcasts to building a larger podcast business. Video podcasts appear to be a major focus of strategy. Well, thank you, mr. Obvious.

38:30 Right, the company is reportedly looking at outside talent and podcast networks, not just internal franchise shows, and the move follows a broader streamer tent trend. Where's the heart of the morning? The move follows a broader streamer trend of using podcasts to extend IP, build audience habits, and create more monetization paths. Ralph Estep Jr: Thank you, Dr. We will not hit the jingle again for you, because we've hit it multiple times this morning. I think we've made it clear that Yeah, Spotify is making a major move that could be a big win for video podcasters. Spotify announced that it plans to support Apple's HLS video podcast technology, which means that creators using Spotify for creators and megaphone will eventually be able to distribute video podcasts across both Spotify and Apple Podcasts without changing their existing setup, and that's important, because right now video podcasts multiple uploads, different platforms, different monetization tools, and different audience strategies, just to make sure their content reaches everyone.

39:46 But this move helps simplify that process. It really means a creator can focus more on making the show and less on rebuilding their workflow for every platform that saves time, and if it saves time, it saves money and a reduced. Uses the technical friction that often keeps smaller creators from expanding into video. Now, the other big piece here is exposure. Spotify and Apple Podcasts are two of the biggest platforms in podcasting, so when creators can reach audiences across both of those without having to completely change how they publish, that gives their discovered. More platforms means more visibility, more visibility means more opportunities to grow, and Spotify also says it plans to support monetization for video content on Apple Podcasts, so creators don't have their revenue, that is business value.

40:36 It's not just about creators more control, more the content they're already Now, Spotify adopting Apple's video podcasting technology can make video podcasting easier, make it more affordable, and more scalable for creators, helps you reach more people, save money on duplicated workflows, and build stronger shows across the platforms where audiences already are so, if you're a creator trying to grow in a video-first podcast world, this is a smart move, and it's a valuable one. Marc Ronick: Yeah, Spotify finally getting on board with that. We knew all the other players would, and I don't think any of us are surprised by it, believe Spotify had to play nice as a podcast hosting platform as it would probably hurt them in the long run, Ralph Estep Jr: and I'll throw something else out there.

41:29 Yesterday, because I experienced now also, if you're on alternative enclosure now since I started releasing video yesterday. Now, if you have video, and some of the players have video on the alternate enclosure. You can publish this to captivate, and it goes right to that. So, that's another great, Marc Ronick: okay? So, that's similar to what True Fans does, Ralph Estep Jr: correct? Yes, exactly right. So, if your podcast app supports the alternative enclosure, then you can put that video out there, and if it'll give it's great, because then you can choose between audio and video, and I think that's where we're moving. conversations about this. I just think you're going to see a lot more of that happening over the next few weeks as these hosting companies realize that they're going to have to support it, whether they be grudgingly do it or not.

42:18 Marc Ronick: Yeah, I think we doing those kinds of things, and where Ralph and I kind of butt Ralph really believes that this is the beginning of the revolution for video, and that to become standard for all of us I don't fully agree with that one yet. Maybe Ralph Estep Jr: I will say this, and Elsie kind of championed what I said this morning, too. She said she really feels like that's kind of where we're going you're the way she explained it was, you can be watching this as click on the audio only, so that's kind of my whole point.

42:58 And Mark and I don't really disagree about it, we just have a different philosophy on where we think this is going, which is everybody here, whether you're in the chat or on the virtual stage, if, since Spotify and Apple are making video podcasting distribution, I'll say, quote unquote, easier, does DIY podcasters, or are we still feeling like the production's still the bigger barrier? Is this encouraging you, or are you just feeling still like, stop pushing video on me? I'm curious, what people think. And while I'm waiting for somebody to answer that question, I did see in the chat from Jody, when we were talking about Independent Podcasters Day being on july 4, well, we said yesterday that Jody's from Canada, so she's wondering, wait, if this is a global thing, why are we saying it's on july 4? Just go with it, Jody, because look, it's all they're saying is yes, they are adopting, adopting Independence Day from America, but they're making this an international podcaster thing.

44:05 They're just using the same day, so you don't have to be American to participate in this show. But that's a really great point. And what does Dave say here in the chat? Dave, at this video for me, is a lot of feathers, not much chicken. I'm kind of with you there, Dave. In the just in the sense, and I've, I've alluded to this before, I feel like these platforms are embracing video before we really know if that's what podcast audiences want, because look, the statistics even show, and we, we've talked about this too, the statistics show that even people who are consuming podcasts only on YouTube, the majority of them are actually listening, they're not watching, sources.

44:55 could be a big flop too, I can't People embrace it. The bigger companies, the bigger podcasts are going to use it, but I don't think I think it's going to be a flop among independent and DIY podcasters. I really think Ralph Estep Jr: that's, I think that's fair, Mark, but I think it's going to give you the option, as the podcast consumer, you'll be able to flip a switch, video, audio, and I just think that the idea of being able to have the option is why I think there might be some, some traction to this. Marc Ronick: Okay, fair enough. And Junaid wants to chime in. Good morning, Junaid. Junaid: Morning, everyone. This has been a fun conversation, for sure. And you're right, there is, there's a lot of push behind video, is because not here's the audience wants, not one bit, because if they did, we would have better solutions, we would have better analytics.

45:46 What they care about is money in their pockets, and that money The entire Google YouTube business has been running on advertisement since day one. Google, YouTube, sorry, Apple, and Spotify want to get in on that, some of that fun, and that's why everybody's pushing to video, because video ads pay a lot more than audio ads, and that's why we're seeing this ship. Thanks. Marc Ronick: Yeah, I'm with you there. Yeah, I think, and if anything, I think that these platforms, the people that they are catering to aren't the audiences, you're right. I think it's more to the content those are really their customers.

46:32 I think, because we're the ones that are paying for their services, and I think, yeah, to your point, this could just be a part of a money grab, right? expensive, so that they can make creators. That's that's a theory worth exploring. I'm not necessarily dying on that hill just yet, but it is something that I think about for sure. people in the chats here. Jody says it is an extra expense as I pay someone for producing it. It's a different audience. The video is different from the audio only version I put out. Okay, interesting. And Gabe says so. Someone who came from a video and live streaming background, I have come to enjoy the audio aspect more, but video is becoming more the path for podcasts, I hate it, but the again, it's who's right, who's wall, who's telling us that it's important? I'm look, I'm, I put out video, right, this is on video, and we let it live, and we promote the video, we put look every.

47:42 If you go to Podcasting Morning show.com and you look at one of our recent episodes, you go to one of the episode pages. You have two options: you can listen to the produced edited audio, or you can watch the live stream as it was recorded. We don't edit it, we don't touch it. But yeah, I've embraced video because I want those people who prefer to consume their content visually. still consider this show an D.R. Fay: You know what scares me is that because the discussion before was, you know, these people, these companies are telling us that this is the next big thing, that this is that they're hopping in on it, and it's like they're telling us that we're going to like, we're, You know, it's like a feel a follows, you know. I don't want to feel that way.

48:40 Marc Ronick: Yes, I definitely, yeah, it's like you feel some resistance, D.R. Fay: yeah, Marc Ronick: yeah, because it's kind of like I don't want you to tell me what to do, I exactly, I know what my audience, how they consume my content, and it's not video, so stop telling me to post video, D.R. Fay: exactly, Marc Ronick: I get it, I get D.R. Fay: it, stupid heads, okay, Marc Ronick: did anyone? Oh, there, Jonathan. I saw you put something in the chat, that's what I wanted to get to. Would you mind sharing what you're sharing here? Because I'm curious about Jonathan Howard: it. I was just saying, I have video for every one of my podcasts. I use it to promote on Instagram and stuff like that. I've yet to post a video on on YouTube, because with previous podcasts we did post on YouTube, and honestly, we got a download, two downloads, so it didn't make sense for me to worry about making sure the video was perfect, and I needed to have, you know, covers for it, and all that stuff.

49:36 It just didn't make sense, and you know, I think it's two different audiences, and right now I'm not worried about that video audience. Marc Ronick: Yeah, I think that's totally fair. I hear you. If we weren't doing live have a lot of video up either, using it to promote the show But Mark, Ralph Estep Jr: I also want to interject something here. I don't think you need to overproduce the. Video, either to be effective, I think that's.. I actually think there's a place for underproduced video right now, people seeing the real you. I think there's value there. Now, I could be totally wrong on discoverability, like Billy put in the chat, the video discoverability is so much discoverability. I have to agree with them there, Marc Ronick: yeah. And statistically, I agree as well. What I see in the numbers, I agree. What I've experienced is not the case. I don't think that we get a lot of discovery through video, just looking at the numbers, just looking at the views versus the downloads, which I know we say, like, don't make that your big focus, but let's just compare these numbers here, and my numbers from video from the live stream are a lot lower live stream and archived than the than the audio version, significantly.

50:51 It's probably like a, like a quarter or less that are coming through video, but you know this, this then gets into a discussion of strategy, right? Like, if we know statistically that video is great for discovery, then maybe we want to invest in getting more people to find us via video. Find us on YouTube, if that's your platform of choice. Find us on Spotify, investing some time in a campaign that video version, something to Billy wants to come up on stage. Let's bring him up. Billy, go ahead. Billy, Billy: hey, what's up, Mark?

51:36 live streaming and posting the experiences, so if you're not seeing those views, maybe try to post the video, like actually post it on your channel. I know the videos that I post get way more traction than the videos that I just live stream. Marc Ronick: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. I, and I will say that those videos, the live videos, have been slowly increasing over time. We used to just get a handful of views, and I'm talking more after the live stream is over, and it just stays on my YouTube page. We were, for the longest time, just getting maybe a handful of listens, total, and now we're in the double digits, right.

52:25 We're on average now getting 2030 or so views per video, so it is something's happening there. And I think maybe that has to do the episode page on our website. I think that might be helping, because I do also see that a lot content, or at least start there, because that's just what the numbers are telling me, that a lot of our stuff is consumed through the website. All right, Dan is on stage as well. Dan, good morning. What did you want to add? Dan: Hey, good morning, can you guys hear me? It's the first time, Marc Ronick: yeah, first time on Yeah, thank you for being up here. Dan: Yeah, cool, man. So, in the chat a couple seconds ago, Billy said, like, you know, video is better for discoverability, and they're two separate audiences, and I totally agree with that. But here's the thing about those Like, it seems to me that and video first is just how our brains are wired.

53:34 It's the TikTok, the Instagram. Here we have 10 seconds, or however long we need to make our thing. So it happens that kind of explains why your numbers mark are growing really slow on video, and but I'm sure that you're you're picking up more and more audio listeners every day. my shows, and here's why. Audio gives people the time to actually listen to a show, understand what happens, and it turns into this like thing where there it's a personal We've all talked about that, or you guys have talked about it many times. It's a really podcasting is a really personal audio. Podcasting is a really personal experience, whereas video is like the discoverability thing, like on TikTok or YouTube, or whatever, it's all about, oh, there's that guy who wears the blue hat, yeah, he's funny, oh, there's the girl who makes funny recipes, oh, I know this guy, he's that bro who talks about movies with his buddies, right, I have no idea who these people are.

54:43 I don't know their names. I just know, oh, there's the cute girl who wears red and dances. No, that's helping. No one's gonna come back, you know. For example, I have a pod. One of our podcasts is called Band Camp. It's a comedy podcast where we read band books out loud. To try to figure out why they were banned in the first place. We're starting our 11th season next two weeks from now, and when I go on our social media, people will actually say, like they actually know they're expecting that we're part of their life, and that's because I think it's because we do long form, we let the show breathe, we have our own personalities, we're on on the short, like I guarantee nobody is going on the girl in the red dress who makes recipes, though, who knows who she is, like you know what I mean, like you don't get to know the people, and one more thing before I stop, sure, Marc Ronick: sure, Dan: you mentioned that you do this, I think, Mark, and this is something I've done for the last about 10 seasons now, is I use Descript, I treat our show audio first, because that's what I want to do, but I include video I'm just going to edit both at I've never uploaded to YouTube versions as premium content, watch the videos of what we're

56:14 We do post or not post, but I create really good looking video, and I put it against anyone, just being a professional thing, but not everyone wants, wants to experience that. It's just like a little carrot that I dangle. Descript, upload the audio to someplace else. And I don't know, I don't think the workflow is all that hard, kinda easy. I don't know if you've been, if you know how to use the tools Marc Ronick: exactly. Yeah, go ahead, Ralph. Ralph Estep Jr: Yeah, and Dan, I exactly why I think this is going to work now, because HLS makes it easier. The workflow is simpler.

56:55 My team right now is taking my back catalog, and we're converting it all to the RSS feed through HLS, because it's a one time, and then the user, the consumer, can decide yes to video, yes to audio, and the cool thing is they can switch back and forth. what Billy put in the chat. I don't think it matters long form or short form. I think it's good content, and I think if it's good content, then it's going to work. In either, I just think this whole.. the whole.. let me encapsulate this. My whole view of this whole thing is, give people the option. If it's simple, if it's easy to give them the option, then I don't see the downside of making that available to click a button, yes or no, video or audio.

57:39 Marc Ronick: Yeah. Thank you, Ralph, and thank you, Dan, as well. Appreciate your insights there. And I think it does come down to exactly what Billy said. content, people will find it. chat says video does much better audio is still my major focus. I mean, obviously she writes, lol, yes, that makes sense as a voiceover artist. Yeah, I agree. Okay, listen, gang, we have more There's one story in really well for tomorrow. It's a report from Asha. It's their 2026 report on podcast growth strategy for listening platforms, and they've got a lot of interesting strategies here that I think some of us haven't thought about or really dug very far into, so that I'll just say this, that could be our top discussion tomorrow.

58:33 In all truth be told, I'm just not as prepared this week as I have been in previous weeks, due to the fact that I'm dealing with some health stuff with my wife, so bear with us, but I do think that that's going to be a really good conversation to have. So, join us tomorrow, 8am Eastern, live on all the different platforms, and you can find out which ones at Podcasting Morning show.com/join us. So, until tomorrow, make it a great day, everybody. Take care.