Nielsen’s latest podcasting data just handed the industry a reality check, and news podcasters would be wise to pay attention. The numbers focus on how audiences consume podcasts, and they reveal a format that’s still fundamentally rooted in audio — even as video keeps grabbing headlines and ad dollars across the broader podcast landscape.
Here’s what Nielsen found. Two-thirds of news podcast consumers, 66%, both watch and listen to their shows. Nearly a third, 30%, stick to audio exclusively. Only 4% watch video only, meaning almost nobody treats news podcasts as a video-first product. Video clearly matters, but it’s not replacing the audio feed anytime soon.
So what should creators take from this? The path forward isn’t complicated. It just requires discipline about priorities.
Audio Isn’t Going Anywhere
News podcasts lean on audio more heavily than almost any other genre Nielsen tracked. True crime shows sit at 29% audio-exclusive, sports comes in at 20%, and music lands at 23%. News podcasts top all of them. That’s not a small gap, either. It’s a real signal about how this particular audience behaves.
Think about who’s actually listening to news podcasts. It’s the commuter catching up on the morning’s biggest stories. It’s the person mowing the lawn who wants context on a story they saw scroll past on their phone. It’s someone folding laundry who just wants smart analysis without needing to stare at a screen. These are multitaskers, and multitaskers gravitate toward audio because it fits into moments video simply can’t.
Creators chasing video growth sometimes let that pursuit come at the expense of audio quality, and that’s a mistake for this genre specifically. Sound design, pacing, and editing still matter more than lighting or camera angles when a third of the audience never watches at all. Skimping on production value to save budget for a camera setup risks alienating the very audience that built the show in the first place.
Video Still Deserves Investment
None of this means news podcasters should abandon video. Interestingly, news actually leads all major genres in exclusive video viewership, too. That tells us something important: there’s a real, distinct audience that wants the visual element, whether it’s for reaction shots, on-screen graphics, or simply watching hosts riff off each other in real time.
Clips distributed on YouTube and Rumble extend a show’s reach well beyond its core subscriber base. They help with discovery, and they often funnel new listeners back toward the audio product once they’ve found a host or a topic they like. Ignoring video means leaving an entire growth channel untapped, and no news podcaster can afford that in 2026’s competitive landscape.
The smartest programmers I’ve talked to already treat video as an amplifier rather than a replacement. They build their show around a strong audio core, then layer video on top to extend its life across platforms. That’s the model Nielsen’s data supports, and it’s the model that makes the most sense given how audiences are actually behaving.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, this data points toward a hybrid approach, not an either/or decision. News podcasters who invest in both formats — while keeping audio as the foundation — stand the best chance of holding onto their full audience. Meanwhile, those who chase video at audio’s expense risk losing nearly a third of their listener base overnight.
It’s tempting to get swept up in the excitement around video podcasting right now. YouTube’s growth as a podcast destination is real, and it’s not slowing down. The same can be said for Netflix. Many of the big dollar deals are with the video platforms. But excitement doesn’t always match behavior, and Nielsen’s numbers make clear that news audiences still prize audio above all else.
The takeaway for creators is simple: don’t let the shiny appeal of video distract from the format that’s still doing the heavy lifting. Audio isn’t glamorous, and it doesn’t generate the same kind of buzz that a slick video clip does. But it’s still the backbone of news podcasting, and any creator who forgets that does so at their own risk.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.