Cowherd, Smosh, Gladwell: YouTube’s AI Tools Get a Starry Podcast Test Drive
SCOOP: I get an early look and exclusive details on new features announced today that can turn transcripts into video — and unlock huge potential for back catalog
I cover the creator economy at Like & Subscribe, a standalone newsletter that’s being sampled for a limited time for paid subscribers to The Ankler. I wrote about the Gen Alpha stars shaking up podcasting, visited Kasey Esser’s indie microdrama set and reported on TikTok Live and Hollywood agencies battling over top creators. I’m at natalie@theankler.com
If you still have any doubt that 2025 will net out as a pivotal year for creators, I attended two events last week that showcased to me just how eager legacy entertainment and media stakeholders are to understand and engage digital talent.
The first was Tuesday’s Unscripted Executive Summit, where I interviewed a group of creator economy veterans — Samir Chaudry (of Colin & Samir), Tubi’s Kudzi Chikumbu, CAA’s Brent Weinstein and Wheelhouse Entertainment’s Jessica Zalkind — about how Hollywood can work effectively with creators. The feedback I got after this panel is that producers and entertainment executives have been hungry for the kind of practical advice the panelists dolled out. That kind of engagement was evident again on Thursday night when I co-hosted an intimate salon all about the creator economy with NRG Research, during which I heard directly from executives at Universal, Disney, Warner Bros. and Amazon about how they’re finding their way in the creator space.
Now, there’s a reason Like & Subscribe is hitting your inboxes a day early today. This morning, YouTube is hosting its annual Made On YouTube event in New York, where the company is showcasing a dizzying number of product innovations that will make it easier for creators to make content, build audiences and get paid. Podcasting, in particular, is taking center stage as YouTube looks to solidify its standing as the most-used podcast service in the U.S. amid industry-wide adoption of video. YouTube moved into the No. 1 spot in 2023, per Edison Research, with about one-third of podcast listeners calling it their top destination as podcast revenue boomed to over $7 billion last year (from advertising and subscriptions, but not counting the growing revenue from live events), according to Owl & Co.
Related:
Today I’ve got the scoop for you on new AI-powered tools that will soon be rolled out for podcast creators on YouTube. The first is a clipping feature that helps podcasters make horizontal and vertical video clips from their full-length podcast episodes using AI-powered suggestions. There are other non-YouTube products that offer similar tools today, and YouTube is meeting creators where they are by introducing this clip editor into its suite of creator services. The company says the feature will roll out in the coming months.
This next tool is more forward-looking — and addresses one of the biggest dilemmas facing podcasters today, which is how audio-only shows can avoid getting left behind amid a broad industry pivot to video. Beginning next year, YouTube will start inviting creators to test a tool that uses Google AI video generator Veo to create customizable video for audio-only podcasts.
“There’s this class of podcast creators who either have been in the business for a very long time as audio-only or who may be getting started who want to know how to better use YouTube,” T. Jay Fowler, the company’s senior director of product management for music and podcasts, tells me. He adds that they’ve been developing this technology for some time with a focus on helping “solve the problem” of how audio-only podcasters can join the video revolution currently transforming the industry.
YouTube’s rise as a podcasting powerhouse — one with more than 1 billion monthly active viewers watching more than 400 million hours of pods from the living room — has happened so swiftly that in many ways it feels like the world’s largest free, ad-supported streamer is still playing catch-up when it comes to designing features specifically for podcast creators. Fowler says the biggest opportunity he sees for his team over the next few years “is to bring all of that richness that we’ve brought to endemic YouTube creators to podcasting.”
I got an exclusive early look at both new features and, in addition to interviewing Fowler, also spoke to three different podcast creators — Colin Cowherd’s head of digital and social, Smosh creative director Courtney Miller and Eric Sandler, creative director at Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries — who’ve been testing these tools.
Keep reading to learn:
How YouTube’s new clip editor matches up to existing tools that identify and create social clips
The Gemini enhancements that make the tool work seamlessly with YouTube’s platform
What top podcasters already using the tool think of its time-saving features
How the AI/Veo-powered product to make customized video from audio-only pods will work
What kinds of podcasts will benefit most from this tech
How a few top users are beta testing the AI audio-to-video tool — plus, the eye-popping video Pushkin Industries created with it
Why podcast pros are betting this tech can add value to their IP