
What changed in a single week
Within one week, publishers moved video podcasts from podcast apps onto television. PAVE Studios is bringing Clues and Mother Knows Murder, both Crime House originals, to Disney+ and Hulu in the United States: Clues streams from 20 October 2026, Mother Knows Murder from 9 November 2026, each with new episodes weekly a day before they land on other platforms. In Australia, podcast publisher Mamamia is to become a Samsung TV Plus channel, and the company says 30% of its consumption is already via video.
That is a distribution story rather than a format story, and the research published the same week points the same way. MIDiA Research counts 965.4 million monthly podcast listeners worldwide in the final quarter of 2025, with YouTube at 308.2 million and a 32% share, and describes the market as a two-horse race with YouTube out in front.
The numbers behind the move
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly podcast listeners worldwide, end of 2025 | 965.4 million | MIDiA Research, reported by Music Ally (16 October 2026) |
| YouTube monthly podcast listeners | 308.2 million, a 32% share | MIDiA Research, reported by Music Ally (16 October 2026) |
| Net new podcast listeners YouTube added in 2025 | 27 million | MIDiA Research, via Podnews (16 October 2026) |
| YouTube and Spotify combined | 50.0% of global podcast market share | MIDiA Research, reported by Music Ally (16 October 2026) |
| Video share of Mamamia's consumption | 30% | Mamamia, via Podnews (16 October 2026) |
| First Disney+ and Hulu episode of Clues | 20 October 2026 | PAVE Studios, via Cord Cutters News (16 October 2026) |
MIDiA's analyst puts the growth at 184% more monthly active accounts globally since 2020. Note what the figure counts: accounts at the platforms, not a census of individual listeners, and the report itself is paywalled, so the numbers here come from the two write-ups linked below.
Why a television slot raises the bar
- A television screen hides nothing: whatever compression or low resolution a recording carries stays visible on a large display.
- Sound is judged next to premium drama and documentary, not next to other podcasts.
- Every edit decision moves later, so one mixed file becomes a dead end as soon as the picture is cut.
- A weekly series has to be repeatable, and the dates are fixed in advance.
- The release window is tight: episodes run on the streamer a day before other platforms, so finished versions have to be ready early.
“"It's the first of many places we expect these stories to go." Max Cutler, founder and CEO, PAVE Studios”
PAVE's chief executive frames the deal as a model rather than a one-off, which is the part worth planning for. A video podcast whose picture and sound hold up on a streamer also holds up on YouTube, in a clip and in a trailer, and none of those versions need a second recording.
Where a remote recording gives out
Most remote interviews survive earbuds and fall apart on a large screen, and the usual cause is not the microphone. It is the capture. A screen recording of a video call holds one mixed audio stream, a compressed picture and every notification that appeared during the take. Nothing in post production can separate two voices that were recorded into one file, and no upscaler restores detail the capture never had.
A setup that survives the edit
Send the link before the call
A guest link that opens in the browser removes the setup call, the installer and the account. Ask for headphones, a closed door and a phone on silent.
Record on every device, not in the cloud
Local capture keeps the original quality of each microphone and camera. A dropped connection during the take then stays an upload problem instead of a lost recording.
Check the files before your guests leave
You want one audio track and one video track per person, named after the speaker, instead of a single mixed file. With per person tracks the editor can cut the picture without touching the audio.
The check before the next recording
- Decide whether the episode is audio only or video, and record accordingly.
- Ask every guest to wear headphones and to mute notifications.
- Run a short test take and listen back to the separate tracks, not to the call.
- Keep the raw tracks, because a television or YouTube cut is often edited months later.
- Check the release windows of the platforms you use before you promise a date.
None of this is specific to a streaming deal. It is the same list that makes an audio episode easier to edit, a transcript easier to trust and a clip easier to cut, which is why the recording setup is worth choosing before the deal rather than after it.
What Airtape does here
Airtape records in the browser on each participant's own device. Audio and video are kept as separate tracks per person, the guest link works without an install or an account, and a recording continues locally when a connection drops. The tracks reach you as files, so nothing is locked into a video platform you did not choose. Airtape does not host or distribute your show, it gives you the source of it.
The Free plan includes two recording hours per month, two participants in total and seven days of storage.