Are Video Podcasts Back From The Dead? [S3E13]

Podcasting and video were never a perfect fit. Video podcasting been tried and mostly failed for years. Some audio producers who pre-date podcasting -- radio personalities -- have had accompanying video programs for some time. That fact wasn’t lost on the first wave of OG podcasters (Hi, Todd (https://newmediashow.com/author/geeknews) !) who’ve built video recording into their podcast production processes. And while I know that some of the video shows of podcasters are rather successful, video podcasting never really became a widespread thing.

Unless we’re purposely creating video content designed to be consumed in video places, ala YouTube. When we do tailor our video efforts specifically for video channels, it can work fairly well. There’s also outside pressure form live video services and platforms. Not just Twitch, but also live video on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and just about every other social platform. 

But all the while, those podcasters that dabble in video are treating these new platforms as something different than their podcast episodes. With a few notable exceptions, successful video efforts from podcasters took something more than just turning the camera on while they recorded an episode.

Then the pandemic hit, normality went out the window, and many of us found ourselves suddenly on or watching video quite a lot. Some live video platforms, either serendipitously or opportunistically, quickly rolled out features like virtual backgrounds that might have seemed frivolous in normal times. Now, instead of your cluttered kitchen in the background, you could make it look like you were dialing into your conference call from anywhere. 

The proverbial pump had been primed if you will. A few weeks days ago (time is dilated), big- spender Spotify continued their efforts to upset podcasting’s Apple cart when they announced a select group of their original Spotify-exclusive podcasts would be available in video. I hesitate to call the a “video versions” of the podcast episodes… because that's not really what they are. The video and the audio are two sides of the same coin. They aren’t versions, per se. They’re kind of the same thing. Whether you watch the episode or you listen to the episode, you get the same experience from the episode. 

More interesting is the seamless switching between watching and listening. If you start watching at home and then get in your car (like you have anywhere to drive to in the middle of a pandemic), the episode seamlessly switches to Spotify’s in-car app, but only with the audio, exactly where you left off. And when you arrive at your destination and want to resume watching the episode, it just works.

I’m not qualified to speak on how complex the tech puzzle really is. But I am qualified to tell you that it’s really, really hard to make content that works well both audio and video form for those of us who have the option of using our eyes and our ears or just our ears. 

But we podcasters are getting better at video. Many of my podcasting friends (Hi, Scott (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkdHflRFigL1BIVpvlRT2YAKAnzyOGvHg) !) have started regularly-scheduled live video shows once or twice a week. They're using new (to them) software and finding creative hardware solutions so that their video sessions are more than just static shots of talking heads, which evidence proves few people want to see.

Maybe these new efforts will (finally?) allow video podcasts to come back from the dead.

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