Amazon Just Confirmed It — Audio-Only Podcasting Is Being Pushed Aside

(And We Saw It Coming)

Amazon’s recent decision to wind down support for audio-first podcast content comes as no surprise to those who’ve been following the story closely. In fact, it’s exactly the kind of shift we explored in our History of Podcasting.

The memo says it all: the rise of video has changed what it means to be a podcast creator. Audio-only formats are being sidelined in favour of video-integrated, creator-led content. Discovery, growth, and monetisation now follow the logic of platforms like YouTube and TikTok—not RSS feeds and headphone listeners.

Example Video Podcast

Video podcasting is accelerating

Audioboom has doubled its video revenue in the first half of 2025. It suggests that more than 60% of its creators are producing video podcasts. Over 13% of its business is now video revenue, the company says.

Consuming podcasts on TV has doubled in the UK in the past two years, according to Edison Research’s The UK Podcast Consumer 2025, which was released yesterday. The research also suggests that Spotify is the main podcast platform used in the country – BBC Sounds being more popular than Apple Podcasts.

For the first time in the US, 18-29 year-olds now listen to podcasts just as much as AM/FM radio. About ten years ago, AM/FM listening was seven times larger than podcast listening.

At Rogues Podcast We’ve traced this trend from the start.

In our in-depth History of Podcasting feature, we look at:

  • The rise and fall of open podcasting

  • How the RSS revolution gave way to streaming monopolies

  • Why Spotify, Apple, and Amazon all scrambled to lock down podcast content

  • The early signs that video would reshape the entire medium

  • And why Amazon’s latest pivot away from audio-first was entirely predictable

This isn’t just a business story—it’s a turning point in how creators and audiences connect.

📘 If you want to understand how we got here—and where podcasting may be headed—don’t miss this deep dive.

👉 Read Rogues History of Podcasting here

See Podnews.net re Amanzon Podcast Cuts.. https://podnews.net/update/amazon-cuts-wondery

The Age of the Video Podcast

See Why Video Works Best

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOiL1TpMRAI

Podcast Evolution:  Stories That Demand to Be Seen

Riverside: A Contrary Fact

Almost half of YouTube podcast users . “If you are doing a video podcast specifically for YouTube, it better work as an audio podcast,” says Tom Webster: who might have got one of our stickers at Podcast Movement, defining a podcast as “something for your ears when your eyes are busy”.

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