Podcast companies are turning to YouTube in an effort to build scale and boost discoverability

YouTube is known as a video platform, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t interested in getting more involved in audioland.

Is the feeling mutual? There are signs that some major podcast companies are interested in returning the love. The online magazine Slate and the host-read podcast ad marketplace Gumball have each recently shared plans to make YouTube more central to their podcast work.

Clean slate: Slate, which operates a podcast network with shows including Slow Burn and Political Gabfest, is now uploading its podcasts to YouTube in an effort to expand its reach to the platform’s more than 2 billion monthly users, it announced Monday.

Posting pods to YouTube is intended to boost discoverability, which remains “one of the biggest challenges across the podcast industry,” Slate’s president and CRO, Charlie Kammerer, said in a statement.

“We see this as a real opportunity to build scale and reach a new, untapped audience on YouTube, which has become the world’s most-used podcast platform,” he said. Slate, he said, plans to “experiment with new formats and content ideas on the platform.” That could one day include short-form videos or video podcasts, Slate VP of Marketing Andrew Harding said in a statement.

Something to chew on: Gumball, a marketplace for host-read ads that was spun off from comedy podcast network Headgum, is expanding its campaign management platform to YouTube creators and advertisers after beta testing across more than 50 YouTube channels with over 37.5 million subscribers combined, it announced Tuesday.

Gumball, which has worked with brands including Nike, Procter & Gamble, Molson Coors, Squarespace, Amazon, and Athletic Greens on podcast campaigns, now plans to help them “take advantage of the exceptional content integrations made possible on YouTube,” CEO Marty Michael said in a statement.

All adding up: YouTube has been expanding into the podcast space with a number of recent initiatives:

• Late last year, YouTube rolled out host-read video ads for podcasts.
• Earlier this year, at The Verge’s Hot Pod Summit, the Alphabet-owned company announced that it would include podcasts on YouTube Music.
• And last month, we reported on a new ad offering that lets YouTube advertisers target users based on their favorite songs.

But wait: While many podcasters post their shows to YouTube, some have reportedly been underwhelmed with YouTube’s efforts.