The history of video podcasts (they've been around since 2005)
Video isn't "invade podcasting." It was there from the start.
Justin Jackson
There's a popular narrative right now that video is invading podcasting, and that podcasts were always meant to be audio-only. But this isn't historically accurate.
Video has been part of podcasting since nearly the beginning. Steve Jobs demoed video podcasts on stage in October 2005; just four months after Apple added podcast support to iTunes. He showed them playing on the new iMac, on the new iPod Video, and available for subscription in the iTunes Music Store.
So where did the "podcasts = audio only" belief come from? And how did an entire generation of podcast listeners grow up never knowing that video was always part of the story?
June 2005: Apple brings podcasting to iTunes
On June 28, 2005, Apple released iTunes 4.9 with built-in podcast support. Steve Jobs called podcasting "the next generation of radio." The iTunes podcast directory launched with over 3,000 shows, and within two days, there were over one million podcast subscriptions.
This is the moment most people point to as the birth of mainstream podcasting. And yes, at launch, it was audio-focused.
But that would change almost immediately.
September–October 2005: Video podcasts arrive
In September 2005, Apple quietly added video podcast support to iTunes. Then on October 12, Steve Jobs took the stage at a special event in San Jose to unveil the iPod Video and iTunes 6.
During the keynote, Jobs demoed the new iMac's "Front Row" interface — a way to browse your media from across the room using a remote. He scrolled through music, photos, DVDs... and then landed on video podcasts:
"We got video podcasts. Here's what's in video podcasts, you know, for those of you who've seen Tiki Bar, we probably won't go into this, but you can see video podcasts on here, which is really great."
He casually name-dropped Tiki Bar TV, a comedy video podcast made by friends in his apartment in Vancouver.
Later in the keynote, Jobs listed the capabilities of the new iPod and said it featured "Podcasts: both spoken word and video." He also mentioned that you could "subscribe to video podcasts off the iTunes Music Store."
The idea was that the iPod enabled you to take your media with you, and that included video podcasts.
2005–2011: The golden age of video podcasting
What followed was a genuine boom in video podcasting, which coincided with YouTube being purchased by Google, and later becoming the dominant video platform.
In iTunes, you could filter the entire podcast directory by video. Audio and video podcasts were browsed side by side. You'd subscribe, episodes would auto-download, and they'd sync to your iPod (or later, your Apple TV) automatically.
Some of the most popular shows on the internet were video podcasts distributed through iTunes.
Tiki Bar TV (2005–2009) was a comedy show about a group of friends in a tiki bar, where every problem was solved with a cocktail recipe. It was made in Vancouver on a shoestring budget. When Steve Jobs featured it in his keynote the show went from under 10,000 subscribers to over 60,000 overnight. It sat atop the iTunes top 100 podcasts for four months and eventually reached nearly half a million subscribers. Apple showed it in Apple Stores worldwide for six months.
Rocketboom (2004–2012) was a daily video newscast with a comedic slant, created by Andrew Baron. It launched in October 2004, and by the summer of 2005, CBS Evening News, Wired, and BusinessWeek had all profiled it. BusinessWeek called it "the most popular site of its kind on the Net." Jobs included Rocketboom in his October 2005 keynote demo alongside Tiki Bar TV.
Revision3 (2005–2017) was an entire network of video podcasts, founded by former TechTV hosts including Kevin Rose. Their shows included Diggnation (with an estimated 250,000 regular subscribers at its peak), Tekzilla, The Totally Rad Show, and Systm. Discovery Digital Networks eventually acquired Revision3 in 2012.
This Week in Tech (TWiT) is Leo Laporte's network published both audio and video versions of its shows, becoming one of the most well-known podcast networks in the world. They're still running today!
And then there were the smaller, indie shows. These are the ones that tend to get forgotten, but they're actually the most important part of the story.
My own video podcast origin story
I got into podcasting through video.
In 2006 and 2007, I would browse the iTunes podcast directory and download video podcasts to watch on my iPod Video and later on my original Apple TV. I watched the big shows (like Diggnation and TWiT) but I also discovered small, independent shows that I never would have found otherwise.
One of those was a show called Let’s Knit2gether. It was a husband-and-wife team filming knitting tutorials on a camcorder. I didn't knit. I didn't care about knitting. But I found the host, Cat, so charming and genuine that it was compelling to watch.
I also just loved that this woman, who likely would have never had a chance to be broadcast on traditional television, was able to create a niche video podcast to adoring fans.
Like audio, that's what video podcasting was always about. Not big budgets and elaborate studios. Just a person with a passion and a camera, finding themselves an audience through the Apple Podcasts directory.
2012–2025: The quiet decline
So what happened? If video podcasting was thriving in the iTunes era, why does everyone think podcasts are supposed to be audio-only?
The short answer: Apple stopped paying attention.
In June 2012, Apple launched a standalone Podcasts app for iOS, separating podcasts from iTunes. The app still technically supported video, but the experience got worse over time.
The old iTunes browsing experience, where you could filter the entire directory by audio or video, disappeared. Discovery favored audio. Video became an afterthought.
Meanwhile, YouTube had been acquired by Google in 2006 and was becoming the default destination for video content of all kinds. Video podcasters increasingly migrated to YouTube because that's where the audience was.
The result: a 13-year gap where video podcasting was technically possible in Apple Podcasts but practically invisible. And during that gap, a whole generation of podcast listeners through the audio-first boom of 2014 (specifically through audio dramas like Serial). This reinforced a belief that podcasts were audio-only.
What does video podcasting look like today?
Apple reintroduces video podcasts in 2026
In February 2026, Apple announced a major update to its Podcasts app: native HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) video support, launching with iOS 26.4 in March 2026.
Here's why it's different from what came before:
The old way required creators to maintain separate audio and video RSS feeds. Video files were massive MP4 downloads. The playback experience in Apple Podcasts was poor: tiny windows, no full-screen, no way to switch between audio and video mid-episode. It was clunky enough that most creators gave up on it.
The new way uses HLS, the same adaptive streaming technology behind YouTube and Netflix. Instead of downloading a giant file, the video streams in small chunks, adjusting quality based on your connection. Audio and video live in the same feed. Listeners can switch between watching and listening mid-episode. Full-screen playback works. Episodes can be downloaded for offline viewing. And for the first time, creators can dynamically insert video ads.
The new video podcast workflow
Now in 2026, there are three major platforms that support video podcasts: YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Additionally, open podcast apps like Pocket Casts, True Fans, and Fountain can pick up any HLS video stream referenced in RSS using the <podcast:alternateEnclosure> tag.
So now, modern podcast hosting platforms (like Transistor) will allow you to upload your video episode once, and have it automatically distributed to:
YouTube — in a podcast playlist
Spotify — as a video podcast episode
Apple Podcasts — via hosted HLS video, with seamless audio/video switching
Open podcast apps — via the
<podcast:alternateEnclosure>tag in RSS
That's the "upload once, distribute everywhere" model. Increasingly, you'll also be able to pull in stats from all of the platforms in a common analytics dashboard.
Not every podcast needs video. Audio-only podcasting is thriving, and there's a huge audience that wants to listen while commuting, exercising, or doing chores. Video is just an additional format for creators who want to be on camera, or have shows where the visual element adds something.
When people hear "video podcast," they tend to picture a Joe Rogan-style studio setup. But video podcasting has always included people like Cat from Let's Knit2gether, who have a simpler setup.
The real story
Video isn't "invade podcasting." It was there from the start.
The negative reaction to video podcasts, and the insistence that podcasting "must be" audio, isn't grounded in the history of the medium.
The original vision of podcasting was broader than most people realize. Some people got drawn to it because they wanted their own radio show on the internet. That's audio podcasting, and it's beautiful and wonderful.
But there were a lot of us who got drawn to podcasting because we wanted to have our own independent TV show on the internet. That impulse was there in 2005, and it's still there now.
A podcast can be a person with a microphone recording into their computer. But it can also be a person with a passion and a camera.