2026 Podcasting Predictions You Should Know

[00:00:00] While we’re almost a full month into the new year, we’re back into the swing of things now as podcasters. What predictions should we be aware of to help us stay current in podcasting and business in the health and wellness space this year? I’m Joel Oliver. This is Profits Through Podcasting where we help health-focused entrepreneurs generate leads and revenue for their businesses through podcasting.

[00:00:23] I am gonna give some commentary on these predictions and let you know my opinion on them, but still bringing them up overall to let you sort of make your own decision and conclusions as well and what you think would be important or necessary to either pay attention to or disregard from these.

[00:00:41] Prediction number one. Video will continue to grow in the podcasting space. So if you followed this show over the years or any other, uh, outlets regarding podcasting specifically, you’ve probably heard the debate around video as it evolved. Uh, specifically. With podcasting, what constitutes a podcast?

[00:01:03] What should we officially label as a podcast versus what is a show and doesn’t deserve the title podcast? I never really got into that too much. I, I think we’ve long put that behind us, but it’s pretty obvious, whatever you do want to call it. Video has become a huge part of podcasting and the consumed media out there, even though yes, a substantial amount.

[00:01:27] Uh, of audio only listeners exist as we’ve seen from data. That’s perfectly fine. But if you do make video available for your podcast, or at the very least, put the audio on YouTube, we have seen, uh, a big number of people choose to go that route, either consuming through YouTube because the audio is there, or consuming a full video version on YouTube or Spotify.

[00:01:48] So it can make up a big portion of your audience, though it’s not. Necessary. And we did close out 2025 with some big stats from YouTube showing that the consumption of podcasts on YouTube was massive and growing. But a podcast on YouTube is considered self-declared by the author. So when you ask the question, what is a podcast in YouTube’s eyes?

[00:02:11] Well, it’s something that the creator labels. As a podcast, and of course more and more people have been doing that over the last number of years. So the fact that the stats are showing that more podcast consumption is happening on YouTube, well, it’s kind of obvious that that would happen because more people are putting content on there that is labeled as a podcast.

[00:02:31] So doesn’t necessarily show us the full story, but needless to say, we, we just know that video consumption is rising, uh, when it comes to podcasting. So. You know, take that for what you will. But I do still come across people, podcasters, who are not on YouTube at all, whether it is with a full video version of their podcast or just putting the audio on there.

[00:02:54] That’s very important because there is a, a huge potential audience on YouTube that you can be missing out on. Now also, when AI was first exploding on the scene, which you know, is old news at this point, uh, one consideration was that video would become increasingly important to build trust since people could really see you.

[00:03:15] You know, AI was easy to fake a voice with ai, but video, they saw your face and they knew it was you. But at this point, even that can be simulated. You know, it’s not perfect yet. Maybe it, it’s close, maybe it will never get there. I don’t know. But it’s still, seeing your face can just help accelerate the building of trust.

[00:03:34] AI aside, right? So having some sort of video out there, even just clips on Instagram, that sort of thing can help with the trust building. But all this goes to basically say what I’ve been saying all along. He said, at the very least, you want to be on YouTube. Okay? It doesn’t have to be with video, doesn’t have to show your face, but you definitely, at the very least, want your audio version of your podcast.

[00:03:57] On YouTube. Then from there, if you decide to go into video, you can certainly do that, or you could just do it for social media clips. It’s become easier and easier to create, to record and edit, publish the video, and it’s become more widely viewed by audiences. So it’s up to you whether you actually want to do that, but there is no denying that.

[00:04:17] There is certainly a big potential there for video. The numbers continue to go up and things are are just getting more and more video. Esque. You know, we’re just seeing more of it. And whether it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy where it’s just YouTube and Spotify encourage people to make video, and then so it got consumed more.

[00:04:36] I don’t know. I can’t say that. I can’t give a definitive yes or no answer on what you should do with video, but again, the data is showing that audiences are consuming it in increasing numbers. So if you’re looking for a new way. To try and push growth and you haven’t done video yet, then maybe 2026 is the year for you to consider diving into video with your podcast because it could be an untapped potential layer for you.

[00:04:59] But again, you don’t necessarily need to go that route. There are plenty of audio only podcasts out there that are doing very, very well. Video is not the end all be all.

[00:05:10] Podcasting prediction number two for 2026. Ai. Will it plateau? Hmm. You know, 2025, as I was saying a moment ago, was the year of ai. Uh, what happens from here is basically the question that we’re asking or the prediction people are trying to make. Did we see a peak? With AI already, and now we’ve kind of hit a plateau where not much more is going to happen, you know?

[00:05:34] Is, is this, as far as AI is going to take us, are there more huge developments on the way? I obviously don’t know the answers to those questions, but we can speculate on it. You know, AI is going to continue to improve and it’s going to be. Useful in certain areas, it’s going to develop things, but that doesn’t mean that in podcasting it’s going to take over everything and it will all be a AI based and there’ll be no space for human creators.

[00:05:58] I don’t believe that at all. And so it’s possible that we’ve kind of leveled out in terms of the effect AI is going to have on podcasting. I just don’t know. But one of the things that was, uh, around when, you know AI first was really exploding in terms of podcasting was fear. From creators and, and even us say as a, a service provider and podcasting, we were not sure and kind of afraid what’s gonna happen.

[00:06:24] Creators are gonna be edged outta the market and it’s gonna be all AI produced content now, or they’re not gonna need a service provider to help them create and edit and publish their content. There are, at this point, no clients of ours I know of who completely replace themselves with ai. You know, they’re still showing up as people on camera recording their content.

[00:06:46] They still value putting quality stuff out there. Meaning they want help from a, a trusted professional to publish that, edit it, put it together, that sort of thing. AI just isn’t there yet. There are technical issues that pop up that they need assistance with. AI is not there yet for that, you know, so we’re still seeing a big appreciation for humans at the center of content, which I am very happy about.

[00:07:11] Another thing too, you know, a big story in 2025 was, uh, a company called Inception Point. They were producing and are rather producing a ton of cheap AI slop podcasting content but, uh, a very interesting thing happened in, in my opinion, a welcome move.

[00:07:29] It was from one of the podcast apps or directories called Castro fm, and they announced that they were going to be removing and blocking any podcast that they found was coming from inception point. Uh, the CEO stated specifically, I don’t have a position on what Castro users choose to listen to in their app.

[00:07:47] And would like to help them find the content they’re looking for, even if it is badly produced or unlistenable. But this company seems to be keying on popular searches in order to flood search results and deceive users I expect this to be an escalating problem and solutions will evolve as we go forward.

[00:08:04] So what the company Inception point was essentially doing was, you know, popular topics of the day. They were creating podcasts around it, or episodes around it, and putting a ton of this AI generated content out there. So if people were coming to search up podcasts on certain topics, they were almost getting flooded with this AI generated content.

[00:08:25] It’s just not very valuable, not very good. And Castro had to take a stance on that and say, okay, we’re getting rid of all this junk. It’s just a, it’s creating a mess, you know? There’s enough noise out there as it is. The last thing we need is our listen or our users coming across this stuff when we have actual, dedicated, hardworking creators out there trying to create valuable stuff.

[00:08:46] This is just getting in the way. So I applaud this move. You know, being in the content business and knowing how hard it is to cut through the noise and the hard work that our clients and other creators put into creating valuable content. The last thing we need is thousands of AI generated podcasts.

[00:09:05] Trying to just slide in there and create more of a mess, and making it more challenging for users to find the quality content that is out there. So I would love to see this trend continue of them being blocked or discouraged or just finding that there’s no business model for making this garbage AI stuff and shoving it out there on mass for people.

[00:09:24] Uh, you know, to consume. Now, if the people decide that they want to consume that and it is valuable, then okay, fair enough. You know, the market will dictate. But we saw some data previously, some surveys where people said they were not interested in something like that. But, you know, if the content becomes, it gets to a level where it is valuable to people and they want to listen to it or consume it, then we can’t really stop that.

[00:09:48] But I think there is plenty of quality content out there from humans. I’m not really sure what the, uh. What the point of the AI stuff is, other than for businesses to make money on it because they can make it at a, a cheaper cost and people will still consume it. So why bother trying to create stuff from a human perspective with humans paying humans, dealing with humans when they can just AI and put it out that way.

[00:10:11] You know? So I see a business case for it, but I’d like to think that, uh, audiences are not going to stand for it. They’re not gonna connect with it. It’s not gonna resonate with them ’cause it’s just fake garbage. But, you know, for something like, uh. Generic news update or that kind of thing. Information, purely information.

[00:10:28] Maybe there’s value there, but still, uh, an emotional connection from a human or an opinion that you resonate with, or a person that you like. You know, it’s hard to say that that’s gonna go to the wayside, and we’re just gonna be consuming AI garbage.

[00:10:42] As that statement said, it’s going to be an escalating issue. I definitely believe that will be true. You know, it’s gonna be like whack-a-mole. The platforms may decide to try to take this down, but it’s going to be increasingly there in higher volume and hard to detect that it is AI generated. So that’s a challenge for them.

[00:11:01] But anyway, uh, that’s, that, that’s that portion of ai and whether or not it’s plateaued, I’m not sure. From a creation perspective and how you can create content, we’ve discussed AI in the past there in terms of how it’s, it’s fine to use it to help make your workflow more efficient, but not replace you or create junk content.

[00:11:22] Right. You can use a tool to help you say, draft an episode or speed up your editing, create some clips, that kind of thing. But it hasn’t gotten to the point yet where it’s great to just set it free on its own. The AI does everything. You know, we saw a lot of flaws there. Poor quality stuff coming out of it.

[00:11:39] So although the tools will continue to improve and they can more reliably be used, you know, they can help you create great content, but not replace you and the important parts of that content creation. So while you can integrate AI into your workflow, perhaps edit a, you know, continue to increasing level, be careful what you’re doing and ensure that you remain publishing quality stuff.

[00:12:04] Don’t let the AI just do everything for you and end up blending in with all the other junk out there.

[00:12:10] Onto prediction number three for 2026, podcasting, a move towards digital detox and mental fitness. So this ties in a little bit to what I was just saying there with regards to the poor quality AI content. You know, maybe on the whole, this could be an in incorrect prediction of mine, but considering we are talking to the health and wellness space.

[00:12:34] Specifically here, you know, that’s what we talk about on this show. Clients at East Coast Studio are in the health and wellness space. I think it is even more likely that those types of people will be more alert to the idea of digital detoxes being very selective in what they consume and chilling out on screen time and device time and in anything they consume really in terms of content, you know, and anything that requires technology.

[00:12:59] I think the pendulum has swung so far the. Content machine has consumed our lives, whatever that medium is, be it like a short form, TikTok, long form YouTube, podcasting, Netflix, anything like that. I think it will. Or perhaps maybe we are reaching a saturation point. And one of the reasons I bring this up is because I certainly have reached a point like that in 2025.

[00:13:26] I look very, very little at any social media anymore. I have a very small select few podcasts that I regularly take in. I do not watch Netflix. I don’t subscribe, uh, to Netflix or any of those platforms. I don’t watch any new TV shows. I only look at a handful of things on YouTube, usually from some sort of education content.

[00:13:50] So a lot of tech boundaries, let’s call it, you know, aside from of course, using a, a computer for work, that’s, uh, that’s something I do a lot, but. Uh, outside of that, very disciplined in terms of the tech usage and the content I consume. So I think that kind of focus, you know, also like a nervous system regulation, dopamine regulation.

[00:14:11] I’ve heard a lot about that and I wouldn’t be surprised if this sort of mindset begins to permeate among more and more people. Which could sound bad to for creators, but I think it provides an opportunity for those creating the best content because there’s always gonna be a demand for content, but you need to understand how to cut through the noise and be the most valuable.

[00:14:33] So how could you operate in a market that is increasingly trying to get away from content consumption and technology? Maybe you offer some kind of coaching or course on how to do that, you know that’s even a possibility. But in the content that you’re creating, , what would you have to do? What approach would you have to take to remain relevant and cut through with this happening?

[00:14:55] Clear, concise communication. Uh, niching, which I’m gonna talk about in the next point as well actually. But being in authority, pretty much everything that we’ve already known when it comes to content creation and podcasting and running a business and marketing, but on hard mode, like dialing it in even more, doing even better, standing out even more.

[00:15:16] Right? And who knows? I, I, I’d like to think even a further stripping back of any of this hype, crazy production stuff we’ve had to do, and. Uh, sensationalizing. Not that we see a whole, well, I won’t say that we don’t see it in the health and wellness space, but at least amongst the people that I work with, you know, we’re looking at trustworthy providers.

[00:15:37] There’s not so much hype or sensationalism or getting to the point of stuff that’s, you know, borderline not true. Uh, a lot of this stuff has come into play as, uh, attention spans have shrunk. So having to sensationalize or using a lot of quick edits and zips and that zaps and all, that’s, I would love to see just a simple to the point, content style that people take in to really avoid all the, uh, the high intensity stimulus that we’ve been subject to.

[00:16:08] You know, like a Mr. Rogers, just calm, soothing, here’s the information you need. It’s concise, it’s valuable, take it in, move on with your life, you know? So as, as for you, as a creator as well, considering your own mental health, not just what you’re putting out there and what’s gonna be appreciated by other people, but you as a creator, what are your tech boundaries?

[00:16:31] What are they going to be? Right, so we’re looking at the opposite side. How can you help yourself while still creating that quality content and still having your business and podcast perform how it should that could look like? Delegating. So getting more help, meaning you are not having to be on your devices.

[00:16:48] As much making your workflows more efficient, again, reducing the time that you need to spend with technology, cutting out stuff that’s just not needed. It’s not serving you. Considering how else you can get in front of your audience or how do you get in front of your audience and what are the the things to real really dial in on and what is not needed.

[00:17:07] At all. So thinking about it from their perspective, what is helpful content that is to the point and respects their time and is going to be appreciated by them, how they’re choosing to consume it, and then how do you go about creating that in a way that is, is okay with your. Situation as well. So I think that’s something really important to consider and, uh, we’ll see how it plays out in 2026, both from creator standpoints and consumer standpoints.

[00:17:34] But I am certainly gonna be keeping my eye on that because I know, as I said for myself, I have really, really dialed back the, the tech stuff and I’m, I’m happy for it and I think better off for it. And I, I can’t see how we continue to go down this path of just consumption consumption. Bombardment with media nonstop and not hit a breaking point where a movement comes about where people start to realize, you know what?

[00:18:00] I’m done with this. I’ve I had enough. You know, so maybe I’ll be wrong on that, but, uh, I like to think there’ll be a group of people out there who share that mindset and being in this health and wellness space, I think it’s highly likely to appear there before anywhere else. So it’s something we may have to contend with as creators in the space.

[00:18:21] Fourth and final 2026 podcasting prediction. I’d like to chat about this episode is hyper niche dominance and how niching in even further with your podcast and content may help you win big.

[00:18:35] Niching of course is not a new concept. This is something we’ve heard about for years and years niching down, and we’ve seen success with it online where people have. A huge abundance of content and information available at their fingertips and coaches to work with and anything you can imagine, basically.

[00:18:52] So why would they work with you over someone else?

[00:18:56] Well, if you happen to serve a specific niche that they are in, then they’re going to. Think, well, that’s the person for me. They understand my problems. They’re not just a generic health coach. They’re a health coach for, uh, A CEO or something like that. Right. And that may even be dialed in further when we talk about hyper nicheing here.

[00:19:15] Maybe it’s not just, uh, CEOs, maybe it’s female CEOs of a certain age range or whatever the case may be as people if, if happens, like I just talked about in the last point, become more selective over what they’re consuming and. As they continue to get bombarded with content from every direction and AI generated content, not knowing who to trust, there could be an increasing focus on niching.

[00:19:41] Maybe that person who used to appear to be an expert, you know, a health coach for CEOs is no longer sufficient. ’cause we’ve got a whole bunch of hyper niches over here.

[00:19:50] It’s for female CEOs or mom CEOs or whatever, whatever it is. You know, we could see a shift towards that mattering even more. So something to sit back and consider. Because we can’t just make these decisions lightly, but you can test some things out and look at some data from your existing clients. Is there a certain type of client that you’ve worked with a lot in the past year and you started to see a trend like, this kind of person is always coming to me for help, or is there a question that has been popping up amongst a lot of your clients or a certain type of referral you’re getting where it seems like there’s a pattern, there may be an opportunity there to niche down further and serve those people further.

[00:20:32] In turn, increase your pricing and become, you know, get all the synergy that comes with niching further. Right. There’s, there’s something to think about there. Evaluate what is going on in your business and your podcast and your content. You should always be regularly, at least once a year, evaluating the type of content you’re putting out there and seeing, you know, is it resonating with the audience that it should be, are the right type of people, uh, people finding you.

[00:20:55] But here with this, this hyper nicheing consideration, what could that look like? Do some brainstorming. If you were to niche down further, what would the options be? And like I said, be considering some patterns or looking across your, your existing clients or inquiries you’re getting. You know, something I’ve noticed over the years with us is we’d start to get a lot of inquiries about a service that we didn’t provide, but I could see, okay, people are looking for this, so should I do some further research into this and consideration to see is it worth us?

[00:21:29] Offering this service or continue going down the path of turning that business away because it wasn’t the right fit and we don’t do it. considerations like that hugely important because if you make that wrong choice, you might look back in a year and realize, oh no, I just turned away like, uh, hundreds of thousands of dollars of business from a niche that I now realize I should have entered back then or I should be getting into.

[00:21:51] So important to have that kind of consideration Look. At who you’re serving? Is it still working? How is business? Are there any other opportunities? And specifically here, like we’re talking about, are there any opportunities to niche down further that will help benefit your business and benefit the people out there that are looking for help from somebody like you?

[00:22:12] So that potential shift towards hyper niches in 2026 is the final prediction here on this episode. As we look ahead throughout the year and wonder what should we be mindful of when it comes to our podcast and content creation and businesses to set ourselves up for success.

[00:22:30] Hopefully they gave you some food for thought. If you have any comments or questions, want to chat about this further, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram. The link is always in the show notes Thank you for listening.