(Nov 4): Netflix Inc is in talks to license video podcasts distributed by iHeartMedia Inc as it looks to compete head on with YouTube, according to people familiar with the conversations.
IHeart distributes popular programmes like The Breakfast Club, Las Culturistas, Jay Shetty Podcast and Stuff You Should Know. Netflix is seeking exclusivity for the video programmes, meaning full episodes would no longer be uploaded to YouTube, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the private talks. IHeart might not make all of its podcasts available to Netflix if a deal comes together.
IHeart and Netflix didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Netflix and Spotify Technology SA signed a similar deal last month that will bring certain programmes, like The Bill Simmons Podcast, to the video streaming service exclusively. Under that arrangement, full episodes of those shows will be removed from YouTube beginning in 2026, but remain on Spotify. Some of Spotify’s most popular shows, like The Joe Rogan Experience, will stay on YouTube and not go to Netflix.
Shares of iHeartMedia, which operates more than 860 radio stations in 160 markets, nearly doubled in extended trading on Monday, rising as high as US$5.49.
Podcasters are turning what had been an audio-only medium into a video-first format. Last week, Ashley Flowers, the host of the popular Crime Junkie podcast, agreed to put shows from her company, Audiochuck, on Fox Corp’s Tubi streaming service. The agreement includes the creation of a channel full of Audiochuck programming.
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According to Edison Research, some 77% of new podcast listeners say they watch video podcasts. More than one billion people watch podcasts on YouTube every month, and it’s considered the most popular podcasting platform.
Streamers like Netflix and Tubi are now looking at podcasts as a way to compete with YouTube. At the same time, podcasters make most of their money through ads, and removing their shows from YouTube, where much of their audience resides, means they could take a financial hit. The upside is that Netflix could create an entirely new audience for the podcasts and give them the prestige of one of Hollywood’s biggest companies backing their work.
Bloomberg Radio provides programming to iHeartMedia and operates KNEW-AM through a local marketing agreement in San Francisco.
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