Ashley Carman

How YouTube Ate Podcasts and TV Short-form video is taking over everything (including reading).

For your weekend perusal: An attempt to explain how Youtube ate podcasts and how everything is television now feat. NPR's Rachel Martin, Bloomberg's @ashleycarman.bsky.social, and @dkthomp.bsky.social

YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads By Davey Alba Priyanjana Bengani Leon Yin Ashley Carman Julia Love Rachael Dottle Elena Mejía Technology Big Tech November 20, 2025 On YouTube’s conservative airwaves, podcast hosts tout products that let people buy into the MAGA crowd: Republican Red Winery vintages for toasting the “silent majority;” Black Rifle Coffee for caffeinating gun owners; XX-XY Athletics for workout clothes symbolizing opposition to the “lunacy of the left social agenda.”

The popularity of YouTube podcasts among conservatives is driving a boom in small businesses tailoring ads to their millions of listeners, paying hosts like Joe Rogan and Candace Owens to read out promotions in the hope that fans will place orders. The phenomenon has enriched both the hosts and YouTube, supporting further growth of the businesses using ideology to sell. A Bloomberg analysis of host-read ads across nearly 1,000 videos from eight of the platform’s top right-leaning podcasters found that advertisers on the shows routinely tapped into political identity in marketing. At least one host-read ad with a political message appeared in 91% of videos reviewed.

NEW: For months, my colleagues and I dug into YouTube's conservative airwaves and found a flourishing network of host-read ads on right-leaning podcasts. This phenomenon has enriched hosts, YouTube, and businesses that use ideology to sell. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w

Music Industry’s Go-To Promotional Tool Went From ‘Payola’ Accusations to Widespread Use Spotify’s Discovery Mode allows rightsholders to boost their songs in exchange for a lower royalty rate. Most everyone is using it.

Music is in such an interesting place… great @ashleycarman.bsky.social report on Spotify's "Discovery Mode"

Spotify’s Push Into Video Is Missing Some of the Biggest Podcasts Popular programs like New Heights and Club Shay Shay have yet to put their videos on the streaming service

The long-tail matters, of course, but to mount a real campaign and take market share away from YouTube, Spotify needs the biggest creators, too.

I wrote about this and more in my latest newsletter below:

Those signed with big networks likely will struggle to make the leap because dynamic audio ads that can be swapped out are the lifeblood of the industry

Spotify recently started compensating video creators based on consumption rather than ads, meaning these hosts have to decide whether they think they'd make more that way or through a combo of AdSense and audio ads everywhere else

At least one prominent show that used to upload video there, Call Her Daddy, has stopped doing so after moving to another network (SiriusXM). And lots of other programs that regularly find viewers on YouTube aren't moving their video to Spotify

NEW: Spotify has said 70% of eligible creators and networks are uploading video podcasts to the platform, but, in reality, few of the top podcasts are doing so.

Of the top 50 shows in the US, 37 regularly post to YouTube. Only eight also uploaded their episodes to Spotify.

The Conservative Star Who Wants to Host the ‘Call Her Daddy’ of the Right The first episode of Brett Cooper’s new podcast has already garnered more than two million views on YouTube.

As @ashleycarman.bsky.social writes, "While liberals are trying to build their answer to Joe Rogan's podcast, Brett Cooper is creating the right's version of Call Her Daddy that'll appeal to Gen Z women who don't identify as feminist and are anti-abortion"
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

NEW: Bloomberg reviewed +1K hours of YouTube vids from 9 popular streamers and podcasters who cater to American men. We analyzed 2 yrs of guests and transcripts to see how they discussed political topics and understand their role as a new mainstream info hub www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

This New Jersey congressman faked his Spotify Wrapped results to look like more of a Springsteen fan U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey admitted that he manipulated his Spotify Wrapped results to be Bruce Springsteen-forward. Was it an attempt at pandering for the governor candidate?

For everyone just tuning in: The most Jersey political scandal of all time has dropped — www.inquirer.com/news/nation-...

youtube shared this stat today, in case anyone doubted people were using the platform to watch podcasts (and, more interestingly, are doing so on the biggest screens in their houses)

Found the ghost in the machine with my AI Spotify podcast 😳

an update on my newsletter! from me, on linkedin. link below to subscribe 🫶🫶
www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions

i wish they had a comment section on streeteasy

Still thinking bout my thanksgiving sugar cookies 🥹🥹

Tired of Recycled Guests, Podcasters Aim to Reinvent the Format Some prominent podcast hosts are shifting away from interviews in favor of monologues and co-hosts

i think this is partially a reaction to the youtube and video push we've been seeing, but i've got lots more context in my story, which first went out to my newsletter subscribers. linked below!! sign up to read!!

my latest: podcasters are sick of talking to the same guests as everybody else, so they're moving away from interviews.

this means more co-hosts or even monologue-style shows (a fascination of mine).

Tired of Recycled Guests, Podcasters Aim to Reinvent the Format Some prominent podcast hosts are shifting away from interviews in favor of monologues and co-hosts

podcasters are getting bored of interviewing you

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Tired of Recycled Guests, Podcasters Aim to Reinvent the Format Some prominent podcast hosts are shifting away from interviews in favor of monologues and co-hosts

@ashleycarman.bsky.social escribe sobre el agotamiento de los podcasts de entrevistas y la "nueva" moda de, tal vez, mologar o meter co-hosts para "intercambiar ideas".

O sea... charla.

En dos años pega la vuelta y se pone de moda el documental de nuevo 😌

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Audible started facing competition from Spotify when the service began giving subscribers 15 hours-worth of audiobook listening per month. Now it’s facing Amazon Music as a possible threat

Amazon Music Takes a Page From Spotify, Offers Free Audiobooks E-commerce leader will offer its music subscribers one free book a month

Spotify’s turning into YouTube and Amazon Music is turning into Spotify www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Daily is one of the biggest podcasts in the world. On YouTube, it averaged around 1,000 views per episode over the past week 😅

Massive Podcast Networks Put Their Shows on YouTube But Nobody is Listening Without video, podcasts from NPR, Slate and the New York Times are struggling to find an audience on YouTube

NPR’s podcasts were downloaded more than 168 million times last month. This past week, the network’s podcasts averaged around 179 views on YouTube https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-04/youtube-s-podcast-deals-with-npr-slate-and-new-york-times-are-flopping