Tv is known as a nebulous format. From serialised mysteries to speak reveals and stand-up comedy to instructional documentaries, the format spans a variety of content material on a variety of supply mechanisms, from cable to SVOD to YouTube. Some TV reveals have episodes that rise up on their very own whereas others thrive on a story continuity that may proceed on season after season. 

The parallels with podcasts are putting. We frequently take into consideration the podcast format as being spinoff of radio, and for good purpose: each contain spoken-word audio delivered to a largely lean-back viewers. In reality, it is just the mediums which are comparable; the codecs are very totally different. Format sensible, podcasts arguably share extra with tv than radio, and that may present some clues as to the course that each codecs are heading. 

The subscription alternative for podcasts 

Past episodic supply, serialisation, and present genres, in accordance to our Q3 2023 shopper survey, there’s a 50% overlap between individuals who pay to view motion pictures or reveals and individuals who hearken to podcasts weekly. In different phrases, the viewers overlap between podcasts and tv is big. That’s not to say that viewers overlap between podcasts and radio just isn’t vital as nicely, however TV reveals are always being spun out of podcast reveals, or given “companion podcasts”, to counterpoint the narrative expertise. A radio-podcast crossover is often simply duplicated content material delivered on totally different channels.

The opposite main parallel is how podcasts and tv generate profits. Each codecs at the moment generate income by way of a mixture of promoting and subscriptions; nonetheless, podcasts nonetheless depend on the previous for the majority of their worth. Tv generates the majority of its income by way of subscriptions, both by way of cable or SVOD, however promoting nonetheless accounts for an enormous portion of that. The massive caveat (and potential alternative) right here is that subscriptions in podcasting are largely D2C. In tv, subscriptions are gatekept by tech corporations and legacy media. In different phrases, a tv present doesn’t market a subscription to itself however to a platform. Podcasts, then again, present à la carte subscriptions to creators themselves, providing extra creator and shopper management (and the potential for podcast subscription bundles).

A TV present by some other title

Leveraging the similarities between podcasts and tv doesn’t imply advertising the 2 codecs in the identical manner. As a substitute, it means interested by methods to use the strengths of podcasting — strengths that will give the format a leg up on tv. Some podcasts are already testing the waters.

In early January 2024, manufacturing firm Pay attention rolled out what they name a “visualised podcast”, which racked up 1.24 million viewers on BBC2 — already a 3rd of the viewership for the Regulation & Order: Organized Crime premiere. Pay attention claims this format “isn’t just a TV present [but] an in-vision format in your eyes that you may additionally hear together with your ears”. Tongue-in-cheek descriptions apart, the visualised podcast is a sign of the place the podcast format can go sooner or later: a remaking of tv. Within the case of Pay attention’s The Traitors: Uncloaked, the BBC is the plain middleman, but when the format proliferates, an impartial tv ecosystem may flourish. Provided that 53% of podcast listeners uncover new reveals by way of YouTube or TikTok clips, based on our Q3 2023 shopper survey, “visualised podcast” proliferation is a really actual chance.

Complement right now, substitute tomorrow?

Immediately, whether or not massive TV reveals have companion podcasts to deepen engagement or tv studios take a look at the viability of tales by way of podcasts, the podcast format is handled as supplemental to tv. Because the podcasting trade matures, it’s price contemplating how podcasts may one-up TV and never simply how they could assist this (and different codecs) generate income. Podcasting’s tv crossovers, D2C subscription alternatives, and visualisation potential imply that what we consider as an audio format right now may very nicely change into a multisensory medium that competes for tv viewers’s consideration.