1, The Great Podcast Rush
If there’s one thing you can say about our industry, it is that it loves a good trend. Whether it’s rural sitcoms in the 60s, politically aware sitcoms in the 70s, urban singles in the 90s or superhero movies in the 2010s, once something has shown a mild degree of success, it is pretty much the only thing Hollywood has eyes for.
In 2026, the object of desire is the podcast.
Blame it on YouTube.
Once stats started coming out that more people were watching podcasts on YouTube than on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, thousands of light bulbs lit up above the heads of executives all throughout the west side of Los Angeles.
“They are WATCHING the podcasts… not listening to them. That means video.”
Thus, a trend was born: Podcasts Are The New Talk Shows.
And the mad scramble to sign up camera-ready hosts began.
The latest example is the $100 million deal that has uberpopular self-help podcaster Jay Shetty (5.6 million subs) moving from YouTube to a combined nest on Spotify and Netflix, the first time the two behemoths have partnered up on this sort of deal, which may or may not be the start of a more robust partnership.
Why It Matters
The podcast thing is a perfect example of how Hollywood often acts before it thinks.
Meaning that we really have no idea whether people are actually watching the podcasts on YouTube or if they just have them on in the background for the audio because YouTube’s interface is easier to navigate.
That key fact notwithstanding, every major podcast has changed its format so that the hosts are now on video, usually static shots of them in a Zoom call adjacent home office, with cans or similarly ungainly headsets on.
It’s an unusual image for sure and yet I frequently find myself watching on my phone when Spotify magically shifts the output to video. (I say “magically” because it’s often difficult to discern what caused the switch.)
So there’s that and then there’s the fact that pretty much every streaming service, both subscription and free, is either currently loading up on podcasts or looking to grab some.
The question though, is how much appetite there is for them.
On the one hand, podcasts make great background viewing. You don’t have to actually watch them, there are a wide range of genres and lengths vary from 20 minutes to four hours.
On the other hand, getting people to think “I want to listen to a podcast, let me open up Netflix,” is going to be the challenge. It’s just not the first thing people associate with the service they pay close to $20/month for.
Especially because the podcasts tend to come with host-read ads baked in on a service where most people are paying to avoid such ads.
And because while the podcast video may look fine on a phone, on a 75-inch TV set it may just look messy.
This is not to say it’s a deal killer.
Sets and graphics can be plussed up and the hosts instructed to make use of graphics and other visuals that make viewing the preferred option.
There’s also the Feudal Media angle: in this age of massive fragmentation, there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of podcasts, each with its own passionate audience. That’s potentially a good thing, but it’s likely those passionate audiences will all pick a specific platform to listen on.
So how to move them to Netflix or another streaming service if they’re happy on Spotify?
Especially if there’s no way to watch on Netflix without adding another subscription.
What You Need To Do About It
If you are Netflix and any of the other streaming services, you need to make your mobile apps podcast friendly.
It’s not that people won’t want to watch your podcasts on TV. It’s that they’ll also want to listen to them when they’re walking the dog or in the car and you want to make it easy for them.
You will also want to work to make your top podcasts more TV-friendly by art directing the sets for the big screen… while at the same time making sure it doesn’t all look too sleek.
If you are a smaller service it would make sense to have an actual content strategy around your podcasts. Maybe you’re the place for true crime or travel or history. Something you can promote.
If you are a podcaster or podcast production company, these are heady days indeed. Just be true to your brand and make sure whoever you strike a deal with has your best interests at heart.
Whatever those interests might be.
2. Bundling Works Wonders On Churn
In news that is sure to warm the cockles of Giles Tongue’s bundle-focused heart, the New York Times ran an article today about the growth of bundling on streaming and how it was the closest thing to a cure for the industry’s most feared affliction, churnus maximus, or massive churn.
According to Warner CEO and frequent MapMan foil Dave Zaslav, the bundle they put together that combined HBO Max, Disney+ and Hulu was “as close to a solve as you’re going to have.”
And as per Antenna, bundles now account for one-third of all new major streaming subscriptions and 28% of all subscriptions in total, double the share from 2024.
Which should not really be all that surprising.
Why It Matters
Bundles serve two purposes for consumers: they offer a way to keep costs down while simultaneously providing one less bill to worry about each month.
For streamers the benefits are also two-fold: bundling cuts down on churn while also allowing them to expand their ad-supported subscriber base.
This is a huge hidden benefit for many of them as they are struggling to grow that base in the US where consumers have been sold on the notion that the key benefit of streaming is no ads.
So flipping that switch is not easy.
Which is why bundling helps—consumers get swayed by the low price and ease and overlook the fact that their new bundle is ad-supported.
Which, I believe, will be fine if streamers continue to keep their ad loads low.
The other beneficiaries of The Great Rebundling are smaller subscription services like BritBox and MHz Choice who can use bundling to gain subscribers who might otherwise never have heard of them. Their presence allows the bundle to seem more robust, and thus of more value to consumers.
Which is a win all around.
What You Need To Do About It
If you are a streaming service, bundles are indeed a great way to decrease churn while adding subscribers.
Yes, you will have to play nice with your frenemies, but strategic bundling that gives consumers a sports- and entertainment-heavy package like Apple TV+ plus Peacock is going to benefit everyone.
Also don’t be afraid to get creative in your bundling and add in other monthly services—an audio app, a news site, maybe even a gaming app. Again, it’s just another way to increase the perceived value of the bundle.
If you are a smaller streaming service, bundling can be a great deal for you, as it gets you additional subscribers and something of a halo effect. Just be sure you’re not giving up too much to be part of the deal.
If you are a cynic, this is not Cable 2.0. Those bundles were overstuffed and overpriced. Not to mention almost impossible to get out of.
The new bundles are, fortunately, none of these.
Alan Wolk is co-founder and lead analyst at the consulting firm TV[R]EV. He is the author of the best-selling industry primer, Over The Top: How The Internet Is (Slowly But Surely) Changing The Television Industry. Wolk frequently speaks about changes in the television industry, both at conferences and to anyone who’ll listen.
Week in Review is an opinion column. It does not necessarily represent the opinions of StreamTV Insider.