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Spotify is formally bringing video podcasts to Netflix.
The partnership will convey a number of podcasts from The Ringer, a community acquired by Spotify in 2020, to the streaming firm in early 2026 for U.S. customers.
The podcasts will vary from sports activities to tradition to true crime, aiming to each complement Netflix’s present slate and herald new audiences, pulling from The Ringer’s lineup. The businesses mentioned extra markets outdoors of the U.S. are within the pipeline.
“This partnership marks a brand new chapter for podcasting,” Spotify’s Head of Podcasts Roman Wasenmüller mentioned in a press release. “Along with Netflix, we’re increasing discovery, serving to creators attain new audiences, and giving followers world wide the possibility to expertise the tales they love and uncover favorites they by no means anticipated. This affords extra option to creators and unlocks a very new distribution alternative.”
Lauren Smith, Netflix’s vp of content material licensing and programming technique, mentioned the curated choice “provides recent voices and new views to Netflix.”
The exhibits coming to Netflix embody “The Invoice Simmons Podcast,” “The Rewatchables” and “Serial Killers,” with extra anticipated after the preliminary launch.
Spotify mentioned the transfer is the following step in evolving the corporate right into a multimedia expertise, with extra initiatives deliberate sooner or later to “convey comparable alternatives to a wider vary of creators.”
Tuesday’s announcement comes as media firms have turned to video podcasts because the subsequent massive factor amongst their audiences. Particularly, video podcasts have soared in recognition on Google’s YouTube, which is more and more nabbing an even bigger share of viewership.
This has led conventional media and streaming firms to lean into the medium.
At this yr’s Upfront promoting shows, some firms, together with Amazon’s Prime Video, famous the current success of podcast content material as creators signal multimillion greenback offers and garner hundreds of thousands of followers and views.
On an April earnings name, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos mentioned the corporate is “continuously all various kinds of content material.” Sarandos added that the road between podcasts and speak exhibits is turning into more and more blurred.
“We wish to work with form of nice creators throughout every kind of media that customers love,” Sarandos mentioned. “Podcasts … have turn into much more video-forward.”
— CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.
