I keep seeing people say: "A podcast was always meant to be audio only." That's not true!

In October 2005, Steve Jobs demoed video podcasts on stage at an Apple keynote. He showed them as a native media type on the new iMac and the new iPod Video. He even name-dropped Tiki Bar TV, a video podcast made in an apartment in Vancouver. This was just 4 months after Apple had introduced the "podcasts."

Video podcasts were browsable side by side with audio in iTunes. Shows like Tiki Bar TV, Rocketboom, and Diggnation built massive audiences years before YouTube became the default home for video.

The belief that "podcasts = audio only" is mostly an artifact of Apple neglecting video in its Podcasts app from roughly 2012 to 2025. Now, in 2026 Apple is bringing video back to Apple Podcasts in iOS 26.4.

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

CHAPTERS:

0:00 — "Video podcasts are amazing" — Steve Jobs, 2005
0:09 — The myth: "A podcast was never meant to be watched"
0:32 — Steve Jobs demos video podcasts on the iMac and iPod
1:18 — Video podcasts were in iTunes from the start
1:37 — Tiki Bar TV, Rocketboom, Diggnation
2:05 — Why people forgot: Apple's 13-year neglect
2:22 — Apple brings video back with HLS in iOS 26.4
2:39 — How I discovered podcasting through video
3:05 — What video podcasting was always about
3:47 — "Podcasts, both spoken word and video"

Links:

• Apple press release: iTunes 4.9 / podcast support (June 2005)
• Apple press release: iPod Video + iTunes 6 (October 2005)
• Tiki Bar TV on Apple Podcasts
• Tiki Bar TV / Steve Jobs backstory (Tubefilter interview)
• Rocketboom (Wikipedia)
• Revision3 / Diggnation (Wikipedia)
• Let's Knit2gether
• Let's Knit2gether on Apple Podcasts
• Podnews: Video in Apple Podcasts — all the details
• Apple Podcasts video via HLS — how it works
• Does Transistor.fm support video podcasting?
• Video killed the audio star
• "A podcast was never meant to be watched. It was meant to be heard."

There was a great thread from John Spurlock on the Podcast Index server on Mastodon. He listed all podcast hosts that support the new HLS video standard in Apple Podcasts.

Transistor.fm is on the list (we have two shows on Apple Podcasts using HLS), but Kevin Finn and Dave Jones were wondering why we hadn't put HLS into the tag in those feeds.

Initially, the HLS manifest wasn't in the alternateEnclosure tag (it's still a manual process for us to build these currently). But our intention going forward is that if you're hosting an HLS video on Transistor, we'll automatically add those HLS manifest URLs into the tag in your RSS feed.

I just enabled HLS video in the alternateEnclosure tag for the most recent episodes of Stephen Robles' shows first (Primary Technology and Movies on the Side).

I just tested it on Fountain.fm, and it works great. 👍

Timestamps

0:00 — John Spurlock's Podcast Index thread on Mastodon
0:20 — Kevin Finn's question about the alternate enclosure tag
0:34 — What we did with Stephen Robles' shows
0:47 — Transistor's full video distribution plan (YouTube, Spotify, Apple, HLS)
1:10 — Live demo: HLS manifest in the alternate enclosure tag, playing in Fountain

Relevant links

• Podcast Index thread on Mastodon
• podcast:alternateEnclosure spec
• Transistor.fm

I'm still hearing too many folks in the podcast industry say: "Nobody is watching these video podcasts," or "video podcasts are too expensive to create."

But the reality I'm seeing is:

• Many podcasters are already recording video (on Zoom, Riverside, and Squadcast).
• It's natural for them to want to upload the video to YouTube (and attract an audience there), AND keep distributing audio to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast, etc.

I think this is the new normal.

Peter Mansbridge is proof. His show "The Bridge" is pulling in 150,000 YouTube views per episode. Bad lighting. Cheap cameras. Three people on a Zoom call. No production crew, no editor, no studio.

And... he's not sacrificing his audio audience either: 1,600+ reviews on Apple Podcasts, 673+ on Spotify.

He records once, uploads the same video/audio recording to every platform, and reaches his audience "wherever they get their podcasts."

The podcast industry keeps debating whether video is "real podcasting" or too expensive to produce. Meanwhile, creators are just recording their Zoom calls, uploading to YouTube, and audiences are showing up.

On LinkedIn, Paul Riismandel commented:

At Transistor, we'll be moving to this model: creators will upload their video file, and we handle the rest (syndicate to YouTube, encode to HLS for Apple Podcasts, distribute via RSS to Pocket Casts, Overcast, and every open podcast app).

Creators and audiences want to consume podcast-like content on YouTube (still unclear if they want video content on Spotify/Apple). Much of that is due to YouTube's algorithm and distribution muscle. Regardless, that's the reality on the field right now.

Links:

• The Bridge podcast on YouTube
• Transistor – the best podcast hosting and distribution platform