The Netflix era of The Bill Simmons Podcast has been off to a rousing start, with the “Podfather” streaming regular live episodes of his long-running show and getting prime placement on the platform.
Of course, as The Ringer and other podcast networks strike deals to migrate over to Netflix, part of the package is that they are also leaving YouTube. This is the point: Netflix clearly sees podcasting as a vertical in which it can compete with the Google-owned video platform.
Most see the departure from YouTube as a big risk. YouTube is the second-biggest search engine on the internet, and has been promoting its growth on televisions for some time now. As a result, Netflix has had to pay top dollar to woo hit shows to its platform. Barstool Sports is reportedly earning more than $10 million annually to license video episodes of Pardon My Take and a handful of other podcasts.
But in a new story at The Hollywood Reporter, Simmons threw cold water on the concept that leaving YouTube is a sacrifice at all.
Simmons believes posting video episodes to YouTube is a tradeoff for his Spotify-owned podcast network, while Netflix could be a source of new audiences and new ideas for The Ringer’s shows.
“With YouTube, you’re trading off something for something every time, but Netflix actually cares about having us on the platform. They’re promoting us. We’re working with them. We’re innovating with them,” Simmons said. “YouTube has kind of this attitude, like, you’re lucky to be on YouTube, which congrats to them, but I’m not sure how long that’s sustainable.”
THR reported that as of February 2025, YouTube had more than 1 billion monthly viewers for podcast content. The company has redesigned its platform to more aggressively promote podcasts, creating a new “Shows” tab and publishing its own rankings chart.
However, THR also cited industry sources who believe YouTube may have “accidentally fallen into” its position as a podcast juggernaut. Companies like The Ringer are betting that is the case, and that partnering with Netflix will be better for their overall business.
The YouTube algorithm is strongly tilted toward discovery, meaning that users are often fed content from beyond the channels they subscribe to. This helps YouTube, which gets to send users down a rabbit hole of new videos, but not always for creators who want to build and maintain an audience.
Simmons told THR that he pursued the Netflix deal because audiences continued to spend time there.
“You kind of can’t tell people how to consume something,” he said. “You almost have to work with them. It’s like a negotiation.”
Of course, audiences spend a ton of time on YouTube, too. But as more platforms expand in an attempt to become a one-stop-shop for all types of video, production companies like The Ringer will be forced to make bets like these.
Simmons, for what it’s worth, is also incentivized to weaken YouTube. The platform is also a destination for many of the formats that Spotify, where he is Head of Talk Strategy, wants to dominate.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.