• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, February 14, 2025

Scouring every bit of video consumerism, now Netflix is considering getting into video podcasting.

And why not? Netflix is in the driver's seat when it comes to attention and time on their platform by its subscribers.

With its total addressable market in the TV/streaming video space near saturation in certain markets -- 70% in the U.S. and Canada and Australia and 60% in the United Kingdom -- Laurent Yoon, media analyst of Bernstein Research, says Netflix is looking at around 500 million podcast listeners globally as a potential new revenue stream.

According to Bernstein analysis, just 0.4% of podcasts now come on smart TV -- with 88% of podcast content, largely audio-driven, available on mobile.

Right now, Apple and Spotify control 90% of this business on mobile devices. Yoon believes the goal is to not look to immediately gain a big share, but to offer more diverse video content.

Consider that some years ago, Netflix also looked in this vein in offering new video game products. So how has that worked out?

Netflix's gaming service had significant growth in 2023 with 81 million downloads, up from 28.7 million the previous year. But growth has slowed recently, according to The Wall Street Journal. Only about 1% of Netflix’s daily active users play games.

The podcast business appeals to a broader audience, and not just on mobile. Increasingly, it now shows up on YouTube -- which continues to see benefit from having this content on its video service.

About 44% of the U.S. population is consuming podcast content on a monthly basis.

Netflix has been toying with podcast content for a while and now may have a little more incentive -- perhaps looking to move audio-based podcasts to video. Recently Fox Corp. announced it would buy video podcast business, Red Seat Ventures.

Sometimes you need to not only see what your competition is doing, but then listen as well.