Podcast: Audio only was yesterday
Podcasts are no longer just listened to—they’re now enjoyed as videos and even experienced live. From an audio medium to a format that engages all the senses: What this means for advertisers.
When 20,000 people come together to see their idols live, sit trembling at their computers to get their hands on one of the coveted tickets and look towards the stage in the evening with shining eyes, it's all about the big show. And so it was last summer, when so many fans gathered on two evenings to experience their stars up close - but it wasn't about music. This time, two podcasters were invited to the arena, with huge success: Kaulitz Hills, the podcast of Tokio Hotel stars Bill and Tom Kaulitz, went on tour, live on stage. "Dress up", the twins urged their viewers in advance, dressed in evening wear for the live podcast. Their success shows that podcasts are no longer just a niche side-show medium, but are at home on the big stage.
The figures also prove this: According to the latest podcast report from Seven One Audio, the popularity of the medium continues to grow. 63% of 18 to 49-year-olds now listen to them regularly - among 18 to 29-year-olds, the figure is 73%. This puts podcasts ahead of radio as an audio medium (70 percent) in this target group for the first time.
In 2023, the figures were significantly lower, at 32% (18 to 49 years) and 43% (18 to 29 years). Daily usage time increased from an average of 7 to 9 minutes between 2023 and 2024 - an increase of 28.5%. The user structure is also changing: while it was initially mainly men who used the medium, there are now more women.
Video use is booming
But it's no longer just about listening - podcasts are also becoming increasingly popular in video form: according to the Podcast Study 2025 by Podstars by OMR and Appinio, 42% of Germans consume them regularly and more than half would like a video version of their favorite podcast. 70 percent of video podcast users have already seen advertising in them. The most frequently used platform for this is YouTube. At the end of February, Google announced that YouTube now has more than 1 billion monthly active podcast users worldwide. "A medium that began as a pure audio medium has evolved into something completely different," the press release stated.
This means that new players are entering the market; there are new opportunities for podcasters to earn money and there are also advantages for advertisers: "With their visibility on this platform, podcasts increase the recognizability of brands and companies and enable multidimensional storytelling," explains Dino Giglio, founder and CEO of the Swiss podcast production company Audiokanzlei (see interview). "Video content is also preferred by search engines, which improves the findability of brands and companies and increases traffic on all communication channels." The visual component also provides more opportunities for product staging, and: Video content is usually created for the promotion of podcasts on social networks anyway.
Difficult demarcation
But there is another side to this: "YouTube works independently of the traditional podcast ecosystem," Giglio admits. "Analytics are not passed on to the podcast host, which makes it difficult to evaluate and compare reach. YouTube also does not allow dynamic advertising, as is common in traditional podcasting. Only host-read ads and sponsorship are permitted, and these must be clearly labeled."
Daniel Schmidt, Head of Audio Strategy at Mediaplus, is also rather critical of the boom in video podcasts: "The problem is that podcasts are ancillary media; videos are no longer the core of the original idea. The question that arises is: are video formats still podcasts at all? Spotify now publishes video content from other platforms 1:1 and lists it in the podcast charts. This makes little sense to us and makes it difficult to differentiate between the environments."
Spotify, says the expert, is becoming a multimedia platform with new rules instead of an audio streaming service. In addition, the elaborate and professional formats are pushing smaller niche offerings to the sidelines. Although the development of the market is positive, it is changing the USP of the medium. Nevertheless, despite the growing interest in video, audio remains the preferred format: the podcast study shows that two thirds of podcast listeners would still prefer pure sound when choosing between audio and video.
More courage!
Schmidt would like advertisers to be more courageous when it comes to podcasts - especially when it comes to popular genres. According to Podstars by OMR, true crime is the most popular category alongside comedy, but advertisers fear a lack of brand safety in the context of stories about murder and manslaughter. Schmidt believes this is wasted potential: "Brands could position themselves dominantly here and listeners would understand that the brand has nothing to do with the case. TV demonstrates this well." The market is developing, becoming more professional and larger. What is still missing are uniform standards. According to audio expert Daniel Schmidt, there are different definitions of the respective advertising positions and formats, but also major differences in measuring the advertising impact of campaigns. "What is needed are common research approaches or reach transparency, as there is in radio." Another hurdle: podcast hosts have a say in advertising insertions. Although this is important and correct and makes the form of advertising authentic and credible, it makes the planning of native ads extremely difficult.
Three languages in Switzerland
In Switzerland, there is another hurdle: the diversity of national languages. Cheyenne Mackay, Head of Content and Deputy Managing Director of Podcastschmiede, calls this a "special case": "The French and Italian podcasts radiate into neighboring countries. It is difficult for Swiss-German productions to find listeners in neighboring countries, where the comprehensibility of the language is a major hurdle. This means that the Swiss German market is limited to around 5 million listeners and can therefore only grow to a limited extent." She would like to see cooperation in the DACH region in order to boost growth across borders and calls for more networking and exchange.
It certainly helps that the Swiss podcast market is making a name for itself with very unusual campaigns: in March, the audio law firm launched Switzerland's first podcast streetcar together with VBZ. While the streetcar travels through Zurich at night, the participants use headphones to immerse themselves in true crime cases from "Under Suspicion"; further formats are planned. The 2nd Suisse Podcast Festival was also a real hit, with 36 live podcasts across all genres, from politics and investigative journalism to crime, sport, entertainment, education and activism. Also brand new is the podcast radio station "Suisse Podcast" on DAB+ from Audiokanzlei, where well-known and new Swiss podcasts are broadcast. On the radio, on the streetcar, on the big stage and on more and more channels in the digital space: there can no longer be any talk of a secondary medium here.
"Not just listening - podcasts are also becoming increasingly popular in video form."
