Why Netflix Wants Your Favorite Podcasts 🎙️

TODAY’S EDITION

• Netflix seeks licensing deals for video podcasts

• TikTok is hosting its first-ever Awards Show for creators

• LinkedIn is cracking down on engagement pods

• Starbucks revealed its first-ever Global Coffee Creators

• Best Buy and Chewy ramp up Creator Storefronts

DEEP DIVE

Netflix is Going All-In on Video Podcasts

Last month, Netflix announced a partnership with Spotify to bring some of its most popular sports, culture, and lifestyle podcasts, including The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Rewatchables, and Serial Killers, to Netflix in 2026.

The announcement came just months after co-CEO Ted Sarandos hinted that podcasts were coming to the platform, saying on an earnings call, “As the popularity of video podcasts grows, I suspect you’ll see some of them find their way to Netflix.”

Netflix’s Other Moves

Netflix is reportedly in talks with iHeartRadio to license shows exclusively, including The Breakfast Club, Las Culturistas, The Jay Shetty Podcast, and Stuff You Should Know, which could remove full episodes from YouTube. The company is also pursuing a similar deal with SiriusXM, home to the popular Call Her Daddy by Alex Cooper, and is reaching out to agents at WME, UTA, and CAA to sign more video podcasters.

If these deals go through, Netflix could quickly build a competitive podcast library, but it would still trail YouTube, the largest podcast platform, with over one billion monthly viewers of podcast content and more than 400 million hours of podcast content watched each month.

Netflix isn’t alone in expanding its library with video podcasts. This summer, Amazon’s Wondery acquired the rights to Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights and has select episodes on Amazon Prime Video. More recently, Tubi signed an estimated $150 million multi-year deal with Ashley Flowers’ Audiochuck, the home of the true crime podcast Crime Junkie, which she hosts.

Why Video Podcasts Matter

It’s been a big year for streaming platforms adding more creator content. Video podcasts are particularly appealing for streamers: episodes typically range from 30 to 90 minutes, encouraging longer viewing sessions; they usually follow a regular cadence, keeping audiences coming back; and they cost far less to produce, making them cheaper to license than scripted series.

While I still tend to listen to podcasts more often than watch them, video podcast creation and consumption have been growing. For example, Spotify now hosts nearly half a million video podcasts, a 54% year-over-year increase. The growth in overall video podcasts is driven by audiences wanting not only to hear but also to see their favorite creators. It’s also fueled by YouTube’s success as a podcast platform and the rise of clipping culture, where short-form clips help drive podcast discovery.

Will It Be Enough?

With major streamers embracing video podcasts and showing a willingness to spend big dollars on them, there’s strong incentive for creators to be video-first. Expect to see even higher production value for video podcasts. At the same time, the distribution and licensing checks may be appealing, but exclusive deals that require removing shows from YouTube might not be as enticing for creators, who see YouTube as their Hollywood.

NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS

Instagram is surfacing Reels made with its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses and from Vibes its feed of AI-generated videos in the Meta AI app. Content from both sources is appearing in carousels between posts in the feed, giving creators extra reach and incentive to experiment with Meta’s AI products. Don’t be surprised if Instagram eventually adds a dedicated feed for AI-generated videos.

TikTok will host its first-ever TikTok Awards in the U.S. on December 18 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The event will livestream on TikTok and Tubi and honor creators across 13 categories. Fans can start voting on November 18 through a new in-app portal. Like Instagram’s Rings program, it shows how creators are central to mainstream culture and increasingly being recognized for their impact.

YouTube is helping creators get started with Shorts through a new Edit with AI tool. It enables creators to select photos and videos from their camera rolls, choose an editing style, and generate a draft they can refine before publishing. Combined with its new Adobe partnership, this lowers the barrier to creating Shorts and should encourage more creators to publish them.

LinkedIn VP of Product Gyanda Sachdeva says the platform is cracking down on artificial engagement. New tools will detect engagement pods and third-party automation that boost comments or reactions. Content flagged as artificially boosted will have its reach limited, helping to keep feeds and comment sections more relevant.

Snapchat and Perplexity AI have signed a partnership that will bring the AI-powered search engine into Snapchat in early 2026. Perplexity will appear in the Chat interface, allowing users to ask questions and get instant answers. The deal, valued at $400 million, supports Snapchat’s efforts to diversify revenue.

Roblox creators earned over $1 billion through the Roblox Developer Exchange in the past nine months. Creators from more than 170 countries contributed, with the top 1,000 creators averaging $1.1 million each—a 40% year-over-year increase. The milestone follows Roblox’s increase of the Robux-to-cash conversion rate to 8.5% and highlights the opportunities creators have to build businesses on the virtual platform. 

Starbucks announced the selections for its Global Coffee Creators Program: Juliana Galofre and Josiah Varghese. Both will travel the world to highlight cafes and local communities through social content. By tapping an outside creator and one of its own talent, Josiah who has over a million followers, Starbucks can surface brand stories from both the perspective of customers and employees.

Chewy is partnering with more than 600 creators on Chewy Storefronts ahead of the holiday season. Like initiatives from Lowe’s, Sephora, and Best Buy, creators will curate storefronts with their favorite products and earn commissions on sales. 2025 has been a big year for Creator Storefronts, as brands look to bring the trust creators build on social to their owned channels.

Best Buy now has twice as many Creator Storefronts as at launch. As part of its holiday marketing campaign, select storefronts are being featured in the Gift Center. The campaign also includes partnerships with creators like Sean Evans (Hot Ones) and Andrew Rea (Binging with Babish), and for the first time, a creator will appear in a Connected TV ad. It’s a strong example of extending creator partnerships beyond social media.

WHAT I’M READING

It’s Cool to Have No Followers (The New Yorker)

Follower count matters less than ever. With bots, inactive accounts, and algorithms that can make anyone go viral, users are embracing a low-effort, unfiltered approach to posting. For many, not caring has become the new flex in a world built on curation and aspiration.

Global State of Affiliate Marketing 2025 (Impact)

Nearly 60% of brands plan to spend at least a quarter of their affiliate budgets on creators, and 18% plan to spend more than half. As affiliate and creator marketing converge, brands need a clear compensation strategy to ensure they’re aligning payments with what creators value.

More Make-A-Wish Kids Want to Meet Social Media Influencers (Axios)

Creators now make up 33% of Make-A-Wish entertainment requests, second only to musicians. The shift highlights how influencers have become the new celebrities for younger audiences.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Did you miss the last newsletter? Catch up here to read more about:

• China requiring influencers to have degrees for certain topics like health, finance, and medicine

• How Meta’s $50 billion annual Reels ad run rate could push creators to demand more revenue

• YouTube’s new TV updates positioning it as a major player in social commerce

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