YouTube has announced that it now boasts over 1 billion monthly active podcast viewers, a milestone that underscores the platform’s growing influence in the podcasting space and intensifies competition with Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The achievement highlights a broader consumer shift toward video-first formats, with last year’s data revealing that more than 400 million hours of podcast content were watched on living room TVs. YouTube’s expansive reach has attracted both creators and advertisers, contributing to billions in ad revenue shared with content producers.
In response, Spotify, one of YouTube’s key rivals in the podcast industry, has been ramping up its investment in video content. Since November 2024, Spotify has begun paying popular video hosts as part of its efforts to enhance its own video-first podcast offerings, in a bid to narrow the gap with YouTube.
Additionally, YouTube is set to implement changes to its mid-roll ad placements beginning May 12. The platform plans to strategically position ads at natural pauses and transitions in videos, rather than interrupting the flow of conversations or action sequences. This adjustment is expected to improve the viewing experience for users while potentially increasing revenue opportunities for creators.
As the podcast market continues to evolve, YouTube’s latest milestone reinforces its leadership role in digital media, offering a robust alternative to traditional audio-only podcast platforms and reshaping how audiences consume and interact with podcast content.
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TikTok has reached a confidential settlement in a landmark lawsuit over youth mental health, leaving Meta and YouTube to face a jury in California as the first major trial of its kind gets underway.
The year 2025 marked a global first in social media regulation, as Australia enacted the world’s first blanket ban on social media usage for children under 16 years old.
The Academy Awards, widely known as the Oscars, will shift from traditional television broadcasting to online streaming on YouTube starting in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Wednesday.
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The United States accused Cuba of interfering with the work of its top diplomat in Havana on Sunday (1 February) after small groups of Cubans jeered at him during meetings with residents and church representatives.
A daylight robbery at a jewellery shop in Richmond, one of London’s most affluent and traditionally quiet districts, has heightened security concerns among residents and local businesses.
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Early voting for Thailand’s parliamentary elections began on Sunday (1 February), with more than two million eligible voters casting ballots nationwide ahead of the 8 February general election, as authorities acknowledged errors and irregularities at some polling stations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv is waiting for a response from the United States after overnight Russian attacks damaged energy infrastructure across the country, raising fresh questions over Moscow’s commitment to a proposed halt on strikes.
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