How we measured this: platform shares come from Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026 "most often" question for US weekly podcast consumers. Ad rates are the midpoints of published benchmark ranges: $21.50 for audio host-read mid-rolls (Magellan AI, $18-25) and $36.50 for video on YouTube (Podscribe, $28-45). The per-episode figure is our own calculation for a 300,000-audience weekly show with one ad slot, assuming the same audience is reached on video as on audio: 300,000 / 1,000 x ($36.50 - $21.50) = $4,500. Because the inputs are medium-confidence benchmark ranges, treat the dollar figures as directional.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- 39% of US weekly podcast consumers use YouTube most often for podcasts, vs 20% for Spotify and 11% for Apple Podcasts (Edison Research, 2026).
- YouTube's share is 1.95x Spotify's and 8 points ahead of Spotify and Apple combined.
- Video podcast CPMs run roughly $28-45 vs $18-25 for audio host-read mid-rolls.
- At midpoint CPMs, a 300K-audience weekly show with one ad slot gains about $4,500 per episode, or $234,000 a year, by pricing as video (directional).
- US podcast ad revenue hit $2.862B in 2025, up 17.6%, on an audio-based definition that undercounts video.
How far ahead is YouTube as a podcast platform?
According to Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026, 39% of US weekly podcast consumers name YouTube as the service they use most often. Spotify sits at 20% and Apple Podcasts at 11%. That puts YouTube at 1.95x Spotify (39% / 20%) and 8 points ahead of Spotify and Apple combined (39% - 31%).
Service US weekly podcast consumers use most often, 2026
Share of US weekly podcast consumers
This is not a new crossover. Edison's Podcast Consumer study first showed YouTube in the #1 spot in its Spring 2024 wave. In February 2025, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan reported more than 1 billion monthly podcast viewers and called YouTube the most-used service for podcasts in the US.
The biggest shows read the signal early. When Joe Rogan renewed with Spotify in February 2024, Bloomberg reported the deal was non-exclusive, and the full video feed returned to YouTube after a 3+ year absence. Distribution followed the audience. The question for mid-tier shows is whether monetization has followed too.
What is the ad-rate gap worth to a mid-tier show?
Magellan AI's benchmarks put median audio host-read mid-roll CPMs at roughly $18-25. Podscribe and agency benchmarks put mid-tier video podcast CPMs on YouTube at roughly $28-45, depending on category and format. At the midpoints, video earns $15 more per thousand impressions.
Video podcast ads command a higher CPM than audio
Midpoint of published benchmark ranges, USD per 1,000 impressions
For a weekly show reaching 300,000 people with one ad slot, that is 300,000 / 1,000 x $15 = $4,500 per episode. Across 52 episodes, it comes to $234,000 a year ($4,500 x 52) in gross ad revenue left on the table if the show keeps pricing that audience as audio.
The market itself is still growing. Radio Ink, reporting IAB/PwC figures, puts 2025 US podcast ad revenue at $2.862B, up 17.6%. That implies a 2024 base of about $2.43B ($2.862B / 1.176) and roughly $428M added in a single year. The IAB figure uses an audio-based definition, so it understates how much of that spend now follows video.
How confident are we in these numbers?
The platform shares are the strongest part of this read: Tier-1 survey data from Edison, consistent across its 2024 and 2026 studies and with YouTube's own reporting. The direction is not in doubt.
The dollar figures are directional. CPM ranges vary widely by category, and our calculation assumes a show reaches the same audience on video as on audio, which few shows do exactly. A separate study reported by Radio Ink estimated about $1.4B in US video-podcast revenue missed by the IAB estimate; added to the 2025 IAB total, video would be about 33% of the combined market ($1.4B / $4.262B). That mixes years and methods, so we treat it as low confidence. The next inputs we would plug in are show-level sell-through rates and actual video-versus-audio audience splits.
The audience vote is already counted. What remains open is how many shows are still pricing a video audience at audio rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did you calculate the $4,500 per-episode figure?
We took the midpoints of published CPM ranges ($21.50 audio, $36.50 video), multiplied the $15 difference by a 300,000-person audience in thousands (300), and assumed one ad slot per episode. Multiplying by 52 weekly episodes gives $234,000 a year. It assumes the same audience is reached on both formats, so it is directional.
Where is the data strongest?
The platform rankings. Edison Research's survey data shows YouTube as the most-used podcast service in both its Spring 2024 study and Infinite Dial 2026, and YouTube's own reporting of 1 billion+ monthly podcast viewers points the same way.
Where is the data weakest?
The ad-rate and market-share math. CPM benchmarks are medium-confidence ranges that vary by category, and the estimate that video is about a third of combined podcast ad revenue mixes years and methodologies, so we rate it low confidence.