Netflix To Add Video Podcasts In 2026; What Does That Mean For Indie Podcasts

Netflix has been consistently one of the strategically sound streaming services in the entertainment industry. 

With this just-announced deal to add network-supported video podcasts to its platform, Netflix is missing an even riper opportunity. Add independent podcasts strategically to its platform.

Netflix is adding a selection of

Spotify video podcasts to its platform in early 2026, as part of a new partnership with Spotify. The move, which will initially be available in the U.S. and later expand to other markets, includes popular titles from Spotify Studios and The Ringer, such as sports, culture, and true-crime shows. This expansion is intended to give subscribers a new way to consume content and compete with platforms like YouTube, which is a popular destination for podcasts. 

Early next year, you'll see a handful of Spotify podcast shows on the American Netflix service. The partnership starts with a couple of true-crime talk shows, a larger set of popular culture and lifestyle shows, and a really heaping helping of sports-oriented podcasts. Other markets will gain access to these series later, though the exact timing and geographical reach remain unknown. 

As usual, this deal excludes indie podcasts and focuses on the ones Netflix considers high-profile.

Oh, how wrong they are!

Today, we will launch a plan that Netflix is free to pilfer so that its service grows with the addition of indie podcasts, and, more importantly, independent podcasts reap financial benefits from being on the Netflix platform.

Impossible, you say! Who would listen to indie podcasts on Netflix? The answer is: Millions of indie podcast listeners when they are strategically and adequately positioned on the Netflix streaming platform.

Let me give you a concrete example. Netflix arranges its genres in rows. One row, for instance, is Science Fiction Movies. Why not place a tile in that genre for an award-winning podcast that focuses all its audio energy on Sci-fi films? The independent podcast is called Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever by Ayesha Khan. 

This superb audio podcast covers science fiction movies chronologically, beginning with Metropolis. This makes sense. Why would Netflix wall off a science fiction movie podcast from the section that includes all the science fiction movies? Sci-fi fans go to that row on Netflix. This podcast is the ideal companion piece to a Netflix viewer binge-watching the Alien movie franchise.

Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever by Ayesha Khan, they will most likely give it a listen. 

Let's look at another example. How about all those Nature documentaries on Netflix? Why not add Plant Connection Podcast to that row? The show, from Lisa Cutshaw, explores ways to deepen your relationship with nature and explore the many benefits that come with it. Or how about 6 Degrees Of Cats? Even YouTube recognizes that cat videos attract millions of viewers.

There is a popular section on Netflix for rom-coms. How about Love Factually, an indie show by two psychology professors who have developed a podcast that examines rom-coms through the lens of relationship science, empirical studies, and psychological accuracy?

There are numerous examples of superb indie podcasts strategically located near the genre row on Netflix that pair well with their topics. 

How about all those documentaries about nutrition and wellness? Netflix can try Salad With A Side Of Fries with Jenn Trepeck? Netflix viewers will eat it up, but in a healthy, nutritionally conscious way, of course.

  One more example. There's an award-winning indie podcast by Emily Ross called Why Wars Happened.  The show explores the political intrigue, causes, and events leading up to historical wars. It features a mix of narrative episodes that tell the story of conflicts, along with interviews with historians, authors, and actors.

There are numerous sections on Netflix about war (very sad). From war movies to war documentaries,
 
Why Wars Happened would slot in perfectly next to those war categories. 

 Now, I know what you're saying. But Frank, those indie podcasts you cited are audio. Netflix is a visual medium. Aren't video podcasts required?

Here's a shock for video podcast fanboys. It's something YouTube likes to hide. Almost half of video podcasts are listened to as if they're audio podcasts. In other words, video podcasts are often minimized on a screen and listened to as if they were audio podcasts. 

Therefore, audio podcasts on Netflix can slot comfortably in their ecosystem. After all, who wants to watch people with headphones on, surrounded by mics, computers, and a soundboard, talking? The indie podcasts presented on Netflix could show a collage of images during their audio episodes. 

There are numerous independent podcasts with a stronger connection to Netflix content than the Spotify video podcasts the company has chosen.

The Secret Life Of Songs, for example, is an indie podcast by Anthony Jackson. His unique style is to deftly weave fine-grained musical analysis, historical context, and philosophical reflection with his own impassioned recreations of the music, producing embodied, thoroughly grounded, and deeply personal insights into these wonderful songs. 

Netflix once transformed the popular music podcast Song Exploder into a show.  Why not The Secret Life Of Songs? 

To summarize, this Netflix/Spotify deal perpetuates the same mistakes media companies make when they step into podcasting. First, they assume that network-supported podcasts somehow have a monopoly on quality. They don't. In fact, it's independent podcasts that fuel the creative fire in podcasting. Consider Stars Of The Golden Age, The Art of Kindness, Taboo Science, and Organized Money. What does network-supported podcasting have to compete with? Celebrity interview shows, sports shows that sound too much like sports talk on the radio, and so many true-crime shows that citizens mistakenly think the U.S. is in the midst of a historic crime spree. 

Second, Netflix believes podcast fans will access a special "gated community" on its platform to listen to these Spotify video podcasts. Talk about fake news! If Netflix were listening to the right people (indie podcasters and podcast experts like Danny Brown, Sam Sethi, and Arielle Nissenblatt), the streaming service would position indie podcasts alongside the genre category they most closely match. 

Third, video podcasts are not the next big thing. Sorry YouTube. Instead, they are the next shiny object that fixates people with their short attention spans until they move on to something else. Don't confuse a fad with a trend.  

Please, Netflix, I implore you. I know it's a company of brilliant people. Just try our solution. Start with Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever. Have you seen the attendance at Comic-Con? Sci-fi movie fans will eat up this indie podcast. And for movie fans of all genres, they can move on to Verbal Diorama by Em.