Where Will Video Podcasting Go Next? (Long Term)

With video podcasting’s momentous rise in popularity, Riverside’s Annual Report dives deeper into this impactful medium. As the 11th of an 11-part series, this article looks at where video podcasting is going in the long-term future.

What’s in it for me?

By the end of this section, you’ll have key insights on the following points:

• Key predictions about video podcasting beyond 5 years and well into the future

How will video podcasting evolve in the long term?

We’ve made our short-term predictions for video podcasting, and they were pretty ambitious. Now we’ll look at even more grandiose scenarios for the medium. These are our key predictions for video podcasting on a longer spectrum of at least 6 years from now.

Social for podcasting will finally get solved

This is potentially the largest blocker to podcast growth in general. The social and community features for podcasting are currently not built-in, accessible, or helpful in growing shows. In the future, we should expect to see a social media and community component to podcasting that makes it far more compelling for brands and creators to grow on.

Social media will be embedded into existing listening or watching apps for podcasts. Consumers will be able to have real-time discussions about their favorite shows in a more convenient way than exists currently.

New apps with a social media focus on podcasting will be built from scratch. These apps will make experiencing shows more natural and social.

Companies will be able to use this new technology to connect and engage with their audience like never before. The distribution of episodes and conversations about them will no longer be fragmented.

As a result, audiences will become more loyal, helpful, and invested than ever.

Podcast analytics will become robust

Speaking of social media, many of these apps are getting increasingly strong at providing detailed analytics. Podcasting in general has very little in the way of analytics beyond simple engagement metrics.

In the future, companies will be able to measure everything for their podcast that they can currently get in YouTube (which is far more robust).

In fact, companies will be able to get metrics on:

Retention

• Bounce rate
• Common leave times

Engagement

• Best time frames for episodes
• Most listened clips
• Best episodes by different metrics

A/B testing in episodes

• Test intros and hooks
• Test CTAs
• Test ad spots

Brands will be able to make real decisions about the show based on proven data.

Discoverability will be solved

This is the biggest problem to be solved for video podcasting. Looping in platforms like YouTube and TikTok into the podcasting game inherently improves discoverability. But it can go much further.

Apps like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts will crack the code for helping you discover new shows. This will become increasingly intuitive and natural, to the point where most new shows you try out are strictly from recommendation engines.

New engines will be created to help make this possible. They will integrate with these apps to give you quick access to new shows.

If you see a clip on TikTok you really enjoyed, and forget it — other platforms will be looped in and give you the recommendation to that very show the next time you go into your podcast app.

Searchability and filters will also be enhanced. You’ll be able to find any show, with any format, for any topic, at any episode length — and you’ll be able to integrate it within your calendar to consume it at the right time.

Read more from the 2023 Riverside Annual Report series:

• ‍Why has video podcasting become increasingly popular‍
• What are the major benefits of a video-first podcast compared to a standard show‍
• How video podcasting has changed in the past several years‍
• How different audiences are responding to video podcasts‍
• Who benefits the most from a rise in video podcasting‍
• How companies are recording video podcasts‍
• How companies are growing their video podcast’s audience‍
• How companies are monetizing video podcasts‍
• When will video podcasting reach a place of maturity‍
• Where will video podcasting go next (Short Term)