Recently, YouTube has been courting major podcast producers like Slate, NPR, and the New York Times to bring their popular audio content to the space. Despite the huge success of podcasts elsewhere, views on the video streamer remain exceptionally low.
Slate’s library of content is averaging around 75 views per video. NPR is slightly higher at 179. The Daily, the NYT’s flagship show, trends higher at 1,000 views per show, but remains dramatically lower than its audio platform counterparts, according to Bloomberg.
The answer might be very simple: lack of visuals. These networks have primarily uploaded their podcasts with static images or GIFs, rather than producing full video podcasts. YouTube has cited studio footage as proven to improve view counts.
With YouTube trying harder to compete with Spotify and Amazon by adding podcasts to the YouTube Music app in the US, it’s more important than ever for broadcasters to know the medium before uploading content.
