3 Myths About Video and the Future of Podcasting

I was driving through the backroads of New Mexico last month, podcast playing through the truck speakers, when it hit me: I haven't watched a podcast in years. I've listened to hundreds. But watched? Almost never.

So when Fast Company ran a piece busting myths about video and the future of podcasting, I had to dig in. Because the industry keeps telling us video is where podcasting is headed. Is that actually true? Or is it just the loudest voices in the room assuming their habits are everyone's habits?

Myth One: Everyone's Watching Now

The first myth is the big one: that podcast listening is quietly turning into podcast watching, and audio-only is on its way out.

Here's the thing. A lot of the push toward video comes from platforms, not listeners. YouTube wants more content. Spotify wants you locked into its app with your eyes on the screen, not just your ears tuned in. That's good for their business. It's not automatically good for yours, and it's definitely not proof that audio is dying.

I think about how I actually use podcasts. I'm hiking a trail in Utah, or cooking dinner in whatever kitchen I'm renting that month, or driving twelve hours to the next stop on the map. In every one of those situations, a screen is useless to me. Audio is the whole appeal. It goes where I go, without demanding my eyes.

That's not a niche use case. That's most of podcasting's original promise: content you can take anywhere, doing anything. Video doesn't kill that. It just adds a different format for a different moment — maybe your commute on a train, maybe a lazy Sunday on the couch.

Myth Two: You Need Video to Grow

The second myth worth questioning is that video is now required if you want your show to grow. That if you're not filming your conversations, you're leaving money and audience on the table.

Maybe for some shows, that's true. But "required" is a strong word. I've met plenty of independent creators — people building something from a spare room or a van — who've grown loyal audiences without ever turning on a camera. What they had instead was a clear voice, consistency, and something worth saying.

That's the part that gets lost when everyone chases the newest format. The format isn't the magic. The content is. Add video if it genuinely improves what you're making. Don't add it because a trend report told you to.

I've made that mistake myself, more than once, in different businesses over the years — adopting a tool because everyone else was using it, not because it actually solved a problem I had. Usually it just added cost and complexity without adding value. Worth asking the same question here: what happens if you skip the trend and just make something good?

Myth Three: Video and Audio Are the Same Medium, Just With Pictures

The third myth is maybe the sneakiest one: treating video podcasting like it's just audio podcasting with a camera bolted on. It's not. Watching someone talk is a different kind of attention than listening to them talk. Different pacing, different editing, different expectations from the audience.

Try to force one format into the other and you usually end up with something that doesn't fully work as either. A video podcast that's really just a recorded conversation in a boring room isn't competing with audio's convenience, and it's not competing with real video content's visual interest either. It's stuck in the middle.

So What Does This Mean for You?

If you're a podcast listener, nothing changes. Keep listening the way that fits your life. If you're a creator, the real question isn't "audio or video." It's "what does my audience actually need from me, and where do they actually consume it?"

That question matters more than chasing whatever platform is pushing hardest this year. I've learned that lesson traveling full-time since 2017 — the tools change, the trends change, but the fundamentals of doing something well don't. Figure out what works for your life, your audience, your message. Then go make it, cameras or no cameras.

What are you actually listening to — or watching — this week? And does the format match how you actually live?

Source: Fast Company

Missed the last one? Audioboom Just Posted Its Best Quarter Ever. Here's What's Driving It.