Ampere Analysis reveals YouTube leading the way as video podcasts go mainstream

The Rest Is Football presenters (l-r) Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer

Garry Jones Photography

Video podcasts are rapidly becoming a mainstream form of video entertainment, with one in five internet users now watching them on social platforms, according to Ampere Analysis.

Ampere’s latest report shows 20% of Internet users globally watched video podcasts on social video platforms per month (Q3 2025).

YouTube is the go-to platform for video podcasts, with 11% of Internet users having watched one on its service in the past month.

Those aged 18-34 are 24% more likely than average to have watched a podcast.

Audiences who watch video podcasts are also more engaged with the audio versions. 60% of podcast viewers also listen at least a few times a week, compared with 36% of Internet users on average.

Video podcasts are particularly popular in mobile-first markets such as Brazil, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, but 20% of Internet users in markets such as Spain, the US and Canada are now also engaging.

Daniel Monaghan, senior research manager at Ampere Analysis, says: “As platforms vie for time spent, lower-cost long formats become increasingly appealing. Video podcasts offer these by providing easy viewing akin to linear chat shows. Netflix’s recent deals with Spotify and Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger highlight the growing importance being placed on this format by major players, especially as they look to take on YouTube’s dominance.”

Paramount-owned 5 in the UK is one of the legacy broadcasters to have found vodcasts a cost-effective way of providing audiences with bingeable content. Streamer Netflix has already sealed a deal with Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger podcasting company for The Rest Is Football vodcasts to air around this summer’s World Cup in the US.

But execs including Warner Bros Discovery’s Jason Sarlanis have warned against “bastardising” the success of the podcast medium by flooding the market with cheap ‘chatshow’ vodcasts.