YouTube has become a go-to destination for podcasts in recent years, as the platform continues to grow in usage across the world. According to Edison Research released last month, podcasts on YouTube have more than 1 billion monthly active viewers and it is the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts in the U.S.
This week, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan was at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and appeared as a guest on The Ankler Podcast, hosted by CEO and Editor in Chief Janice Min.
Min asked Mohan about the rising popularity of podcasts on YouTube, which Mohan referred to as an “overnight success” that the company had actually predicted in three key ways even before COVID in 2020.
“One was, and COVID accelerated this, was that people actually don’t want to just listen to podcasts. They wanna watch podcasts, they wanna watch this conversation happening,” explained Mohan. “You want to keep growing that audience every single day. And so having those podcasts hosted on YouTube and having the algorithm find new audiences for you every single day. Turns out to be really, really powerful no matter how big of a podcaster you are. The third piece is, just like we were talking about earlier, is really around monetization.”
Furthermore, Mohan went on to explain that, regarding the monetization model, YouTube allows creators to move beyond a “generic table read” to a more dynamic presentation. This, he said, works better for brands and brings out the creativity in the creator. He noted that the combination of monetization, discoverability, and the visual experience has contributed significantly to the success of podcasts on the platform.
In addition, YouTube recently launched a weekly podcast shows chart, which tracks and celebrates top podcasters. These creators are redefining the next era of entertainment with engaging, influential, and culture-defining shows across a wide range of genres, including News, Sports, Comedy, and True Crime. Min referenced several podcasts that she noticed ranking highly in various categories—some of which she wouldn’t have expected.
In response, Mohan emphasized that everyone is welcome on the platform, regardless of the podcast’s type or format.
“All of those podcasts, all of those podcast genres should have a home on YouTube. My job is to make it so that they’re all successful. There’s enough of an audience there that all of those podcasters can ultimately be successful,” said Mohan. “I think the main differentiator is we’re a video-first platform. So, podcasters that really sort of lean into that. What I mean by that is not high production but recognizing that having a familiar look and feel for your audience, finding a way to act. So much of communication is nonverbal, really capturing that. Those are the podcasts that tend to be successful in our platform.”
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