"Publishing video on Apple Podcasts doubled my plays"

I messaged Stephen Robles to ask him about his experience publishing on Apple Podcasts video. Stephen co-hosts Primary Technology with Jason Aten. He'd recently started publishing video versions of his episodes inside Apple Podcasts. I was curious how it had affected his numbers.

He sent me back this screenshot:

"Basically, we’ve doubled our plays on Apple Podcasts since launching video."

Primary Technology shipped its first video episode on April 9, 2026. The chart above shows the 60 days that followed. Total plays climbed to 152.9K (a 136% jump).

Stephen was Transistor’s first customer to release video episodes on Apple Podcasts. He has a lot of Apple enthusiasts in his audience, but he also has a lot of audio-only listeners. Traditionally, he would upload his video version to YouTube, and his audio version everywhere else. 

So it’s interesting to look at his numbers, and see how his audience has changed since the Apple Podcasts video launch.

Per-episode plays roughly doubled

Here's the per-episode breakdown from his Apple Podcasts dashboard:

There are two metrics that have improved since his Apple Podcasts video launch.

Plays per episode roughly doubled. Episode 121, published before video, has 8,392 plays. Episode 126, the first video episode, has 20,157.

Engaged listeners climbed too. Apple counts an "engaged listener" as someone who listens to at least 20 minutes or 40% of an episode. That number went from 707 on Episode 121 to 1,072 on Episode 126.

As Stephen put it: "My audience on Apple is more engaged since adding video."

Video helped get him into Top 50 in the Tech category

Since launching video, Primary Technology has charted inside the top 50 tech shows on Apple Podcasts. It's a competitive category, typically dominated by shows from major networks (NPR, The New York Times, Vox), so it’s impressive that Stephen and Jason are ranking.

Is your YouTube audience shifting to Apple Podcasts video?

That was my next question. If your YouTube audience is large and you give them an option to watch on Apple Podcasts, maybe the Apple numbers are inflated by people who used to watch on YouTube.

Stephen sent me this screenshot from his YouTube channel:

Episodes there are still pulling between 1.4K and 2.1K views each on YouTube. This shows that the YouTube audience didn't move; the Apple Podcasts growth is new people discovering the show.

Also, Primary Technology's audio numbers on other apps are still strong. They get about 5,000 to 10,000 monthly downloads in Overcast alone, plus thousands more across Pocket Casts, Castro, Spotify, and the rest of the open podcast ecosystem.

Video on Apple Podcasts is attracting a whole new audience on top of what Stephen and Jason have already built.

Apple is boosting discovery for video

Stephen has also seen an uptick in reviews like this one:

"I stumbled into your show by accident and it's fantastic."

While not every listener on Apple was a fan of the move to video (see below), many have been talking about how much they enjoy it.

Because Apple is actively promoting video podcasts, and there aren't that many on the platform, this is a real opportunity for independent creators. If you're willing to publish video right now, the math is in your favour.

Any downsides to launching video on Apple?

It’s not all upside. I asked Stephen if there were any downsides, and he flagged a few:

Apple doesn't support chapters for shows that add video, nor does the transcript follow along with the spoken word anymore. This should be possible: Spotify has this exact implementation (video or audio, transcript follows along, and chapters are selectable).

This also created consternation with a few listeners who thought we as a show put "chapters behind a paywall." Not at all. We still deliver chapters and chapter art through our MP3 audio file and in the show notes (Transistor thankfully automatically places those timestamps when our MP3 has ID3 tags).

So if you listen to the free version in Overcast, Pocket Casts, or any other app, you get chapters. Apple inexplicably removed chapters for shows that added HLS video, and I hope that comes back.

Paid subscribers in Apple Podcasts now get the worst experience of anyone who consumes our show. Subscriber audio still doesn't have chapters (Apple still strips out the ones in our MP3 file), and there's no video. I've had a number of people say they started supporting the show and ask "how to get the video." Unfortunately there is no option for "subscriber video" right now from Apple.

I know Apple has been listening to creator feedback. My guess is that a lot of the items Stephen cited were already on their roadmap, but haven’t been implemented yet.

However, if you're considering adding video to Apple, it's worth knowing about the downsides. For Stephen, the upside of increasing his audience on Apple is worth the short-term pain.

How Stephen distributes video to every platform with one upload

The reason Stephen can publish video like this without running a separate workflow is because Transistor is one of Apple's approved HLS partners. Transistor’s video podcast hosting feature allows you to upload one video, and distribute it to Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and HLS video in your RSS feed (for apps like iHeart and Pocket Casts).

Upload once, distribute everywhere.

Stephen, who's been running shows on Transistor for years, summed it up:

I've hosted multiple shows on Transistor for years and it's far and away my favorite podcasting platform. They keep adding useful features, and now with HLS video I can distribute my show in every format my audience wants from one place. It's the best.

Adding video to your podcast gives you a chance to stand out from the crowd in Apple Podcasts, and an opportunity to grow your audience.

Looking for examples of video podcasts on Apple? Here are the best video episodes I've found.

Transistor's video podcast hosting is in beta now. If you want in, join the waitlist here.