They're Making Video Podcasts A Thing Again… Again And It Might Just Work This Time

On the whole, podcasting hasn't been kind to video content producers. And video hasn’t been kind to podcasters’ wallets. But four developing trends could change how podcasters think about video in the future.

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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.

In the beginning, there were audio podcasts. And then about thirteen seconds later, there were video podcasts. All right, well, not thirteen seconds, but it didn't take very long for content creators to realize that video files could be sent via RSS feeds just as easily as audio files. And really any other sorts of files. And it wasn't long when that happened, that suddenly audio podcasters and video podcasters were living side by side.

The trouble here is that they were two distinctly different paths the audience member had to take, and the producers had to make, as well. And in many cases, it was an either/or situation. There really wasn't much point in trying to listen to Happy Tree Friends or Ask A Ninja unless you were also watching the video. A handful of you from 2005 might remember those shows. Then, of course, YouTube happened not longer after that. And the watching audience was converted to that property as the primary consumption site, which caused most video-only podcasters to follow suit.

But now, video podcasts are looking like they might be a thing again... again? And as the title says, it might actually work this time. There are four trends right now that I'm keeping an eye on that I think you should also keep your eye on to see if this is really happening or not.

You may remember just a few weeks ago - a week ago, time is still wonky - YouTube announced they were looking for someone to head up podcasting - YouTube podcasts, not Google Podcasts, not anything else Google-related, but actually a YouTube person to manage the podcasting side of YouTube. And no, that doesn't exist - today.

Then last week, Spotify announced they'd be hosting audio and video versions of select shows. Just sign up and you could be there. The idea, at least for Spotify, is that once a listener follows the show, the listener can then decide which format of the episodes is right for them.

Thirdly, the Podcasting 2.0 people have come up with the alternate enclosure tag. It's part of the new namespace for Podcasting 2.0. That will allow what Spotify is doing, but in a non-proprietary way so that any application that is reading the alternate enclosure tag from the RSS feed could display the video.

Now, those three trends, which are like really new right now on their own, those are probably enough to get you thinking about the video version of your show. However, I recognize, because I do it, that it's still extra effort. And we're not talking about a little extra effort. It is a lot of extra effort to make not only an audio version of your podcasts that people want to listen to, but also a video version that people want to watch. I get it.

Enter the fourth trend where you become an editor of the media, not the audio or the video. And this is weird. Rather than viewing - heh, viewing - the video as something else to be shot and created, audio and video, video and audio are captured at the same time - cameras and microphones. But then rather than going down two distinctly different paths, creators can use software like Descript - there'll be a link in the episode details - to take that captured media and to edit it, I guess I'll say, holistically so that you're editing the entire piece. Then when you're done editing the entire piece, out the other end will come an audio-only version and a video-enabled version as outputs. Again, not by manipulating the video itself, not by manipulating the audio itself, but by holistically editing the entire thing. In Descript's model, that's all done via text, which is just weird, but it works.

So now we're going to have YouTube, Spotify, and any other podcast app directory that's making proper use of the alternate enclosure tag, they can then come up with a clever UX so that they present either option to the audience member. This is going to get interesting in the video space.

Now, no, I'm not ready to predict that most podcasts that are audio-only today will suddenly be audio and video. I'm not saying that's the case. There are still many podcasts, many types of podcasts even, that could not easily be made into both a video and an audio format, many things that just, it just wouldn't work.

But for a lot - monologue shows, interview shows... hmm, maybe it can be. Again, I'm not predicting this is the way things are going. However, while you are making your holiday shopping lists, you might want to keep video in mind.

Let's do some Boostagrams!

Now it's time for the boost-the boost-the boost- Boostagram Corner. Boostagram Corner. I don't know a thing about crypto.

First, I want to thank Garrett Godfrey of the podcast Good Patron. He actually brought me actual coffee. Not bought me coffee virtually, but actually physically brought coffee to me - thank you, Garrett - to the Phoenix podcasters meet up last week. Now I have some amazing coffee from Garrett. Thank you very much, sir.

I also want to thank John Kostuch - I think that's how I pronounce that - of the Centre Steer podcast. He bought me a virtual coffee and gave me a note saying, "Being a guide and not an expert made a connection with me. Thanks for that."

Thank you very much, John. I'm glad that episode resonated with you.

And I will say that even though I haven't received real, actual Boostagrams from the new podcast apps, my streaming stats keep on ticking in, rolling in, whatever sound Satoshis make when they come in. Anyhow, regardless, I think I'm up to, like, 32,000 Satoshis thus far, earned from people like you who are listening on an app that has value-for-value enabled so that value streams back to the podcasters you are listening to. You can check out those at NewPodcastApps.com.

That's it. I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra. He's on a mission to make podcasting better. Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes section of your podcast listening app. A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected transcript, both created by Allie Press. Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. Find out more at Simpler.Media.

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