Podcasts Are the New Talk Shows

As podcast consumption increases, online platforms like Netflix and Crave are getting in on the action by streaming video podcasts. The increased production needs of so-called vodcasts puts more financial pressure on indie podcasters who previously relied on low-budget, audio-first sets. But resources like the Canada Media Fund’s Digital Creators Pilot Program are helping to support podcast creators venturing into video.

It was in the early 2010s that Kattie Laur first got into podcasts.

After growing up with public radio and “being obsessed with the CBC,” Laur studied TV and radio production at Ryerson University, since renamed Toronto Metropolitan University, graduating in 2014. Following stints in radio and TV production, she became a freelance podcast producer in 2018, working on podcasts for publications like BetaKit, which covers Canada’s digital economy.

In 2022, during the pandemic, Laur started the newsletter Pod the North as a community resource for Canadian podcasts. It now has 2,000 subscribers. In 2024, she launched a podcast called Canardian, which invites guests to gossip about their hometowns. A year later, in April 2025, she started posting Canardian video podcasts on YouTube.

Audio Meets Video

Laur says the pandemic acted as a catalyst for the podcast industry and its crossover to a rapidly growing format — video. “All of a sudden remote recording was way easier,” she says. “We had access to these Zoom-style recordings of people. That gave us all this extra footage to use and produce and put out into the world.”

According to Laur, the growth of these “vodcasts” is helping to fuel the increased popularity of podcasts.

A 2025 survey from Signal Hill Insights titled Canadian Podcast Listener shows that podcast consumption in Canada has grown steadily since 2017. In 2025, 46 percent of Canadians listened to podcasts at least once a month, up from 39 percent in 2024 and 24 percent in 2017. In addition, 14 percent of Canadians listened to a podcast every day, up from nine percent in 2024 and four percent in 2017. Of podcast consumers, 51 percent say they both listen to and watch podcasts, compared to 25 percent who only listen to podcasts and 24 percent who only watch podcasts. The survey also showed that 40 percent of podcast consumers chose YouTube as their platform of choice, while 26 percent opted for Spotify.

“Podcasts have become more than just an audio listening experience,” Laur says. “They are something that you're consuming in short-form video on Instagram, on TikTok and on YouTube Shorts. They've become full-on talk shows.”

Broadcasters and Streamers Launch Vodcasting

Major streamers are also getting on board. In January 2026, Netflix began streaming video podcasts. By the end of March, 13 percent of Netflix-viewing households had watched a podcast on the platform. And Canadian streamer Crave just launched podcast video streaming at the end of May.

Laur is also seeing traditional broadcasters embrace the new medium. “I was at the gym the other day and there was a Sportsnet podcast on the TV,” she says. “Even these massive corporations are starting to use podcast content as both television content and as a podcast. That’s where this is going. You make something that can be consumed in any format that people choose.”

Finding Financing for Video

Laur cautions that adding video production puts increased financial pressure on podcasters. “The new standard is for these set designs and talk shows that take place in studios,” Laur explains. “We're talking a three-camera setup, three-point lighting, it's going to be tough for Canadians to compete because we don't have resources.”

While many successful international podcasts have sponsors and advertisers, especially in the U.S., Laur says Canadian advertisers are “super risk-averse.”

“With all the indie podcasters that I talked to, very few of them are getting sponsorship, especially from Canadian brands,” she says. As a result, talented indie podcasters are decamping for the more lucrative U.S. market (“a lot of Canadian producers are behind one of the most popular podcasts out there, called 99% Invisible,” says Laur), working on branded productions funded by companies with bigger budgets, like financial institutions, or vying for limited positions at broadcasters like the CBC.

But there are reasons to be hopeful about financial support.

The Canada Media Fund’s (CMF) Digital Creators Pilot Program (DCPP), now in its fourth year, announced that its 2026/2027 funding year will be open to video podcast creators for the first time. “In recent years, with the increased attention and focus on video podcasting, we really saw it as an opportunity for continued growth that fits within CMF’s mandate, which is audio-visual content,” explains Janine Steele, the director of interactive, digital and emerging media for the CMF. “We really saw an increased desire for consistent government support to be directed towards the industry.”

The DCPP is open to mid-career podcasters who have been in operation for at least a year, have produced and released at least three episodes of a podcast in the past year and previously produced and released at least one season of a podcast series for which they are the primary owner. English podcasters will also need an average of 1,000 downloads per episode, while French podcasters will need an average of 500 downloads per episode. Creators also need to have podcasts available on at least one of the major platforms: Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts or, in the case of French podcasters, Radio-Canada’s OHdio. The program opens for applications on September 15 and closes on October 1, 2026.

“We're really looking to support podcasters that have either already been working a bit in the video podcast space and want to expand and solidify what they're doing,” explains Steele, “or it can be for podcasters who have just been working in audio and want to make the transition to video.”

Steele says the DCPP is less concerned about content creation as it is with how a podcaster’s business can be developed. “We want to support them in activities like hiring staff, whether that’s accountants, lawyers or social media managers, to purchase equipment or to travel,” she explains. “If they need to attend conferences in order to gather more business contacts or to sign deals, those are some of the activities they can cover with us.”

Fostering Homegrown Podcasters for the Future

By supporting mid-level Canadian podcasters through the DCPP, Steele hopes indie podcasters can grow their platforms and audiences. “We have the opportunity to build made-in-Canada stories and share experiences that contribute to the fabric of our cultural society, how we see ourselves and how we understand each other,” she explains. “This is in light of an industry that is largely global and dealing with content that's coming from all over the world, but especially south of the border.”

For Laur, supporting indie podcasters, especially underrepresented perspectives from women, women of colour and Indigenous people, is imperative to the growth and success of the industry as a whole. “It's really important that we see ourselves in the media that we consume,” she says.