What you need to know
- YouTube surpassed one billion monthly active podcast viewers, a key threshold for the platform.
- Google is going all-in on YouTube and YouTube Music for podcasts after shutting down Google Podcasts last year.
- According to an independent report, YouTube is also now the most frequently used podcast client in the U.S.
Nearly a year after Google made the surprising decision to shutter Google Podcasts, it appears that YouTube has successfully emerged as its replacement. The company recently shared its "big bets" for YouTube in 2025, and one of them seems to be paying off early. In a blog post today, Feb. 26, YouTube shared that it eclipsed one billion monthly podcast viewers — an important achievement for the platform.
"This milestone underscores how YouTube has come to play an essential role in podcasting for creators and audiences, and how our investments to improve the podcast experience on YouTube are paying off," writes Tim Katz, the VP of partnerships and podcasts at YouTube. "Podcasts with video are more than just a trend, they meet audiences where they are: on YouTube."
The monthly active viewer threshold is just part of the reason YouTube is taking a victory lap for its podcast delivery efforts. The platform claims that it is "the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts in the U.S. and often the first place people go when looking for a new podcast," citing an Edison Research report from October 2024. The report found that YouTube is more popular among podcast listeners than both Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
In terms of market share, Edison reports that YouTube Music is the most popular podcast delivery service among weekly podcast listeners ages 13 and up. It has 31% of the market, compared to 27% for Spotify and 15% for Apple Podcasts. Edison's metrics measure "listening, not downloads, across all networks, shows, and platforms," per the report.
Last year, YouTube says viewers consumed over 400 million hours of podcasts on its platforms — both audio and video podcasts. The move comes as Google embraces YouTube and YouTube Music for podcast delivery. It's continuing to grow YouTube's podcast functionality. At the end of last year, the company added shareable links that let listeners start shared podcasts at a specific timestamp.
