In October 2026, Netflix handed podcast content acquisitions to former Apple Podcasts executive Steve Wilson, for now as a consultant. Shows Netflix has been pursuing since last year, including the radio show The Breakfast Club, had to pull their video episodes from YouTube because of Netflix. Netflix is thus stepping up its tug of war with YouTube over podcast creators, even though, according to Bloomberg, podcasts make up only a small part of its $20 billion content budget.
The man who, on leaving a podcast network, was thinking about what creators need from platforms is now buying for one of them. In a post on LinkedIn he wrote that he is most proud of the team and of the creators who entrusted the network with their work, and closed it with the words “More soon.” Before that he spent nearly fifteen years at Apple, and at Apple Podcasts he worked in editorial, partner relations and show marketing. He then spent nearly six years running strategy at the Daylight Media network. He joined when it was still called QCODE and was a scripted fiction studio with a handful of shows. There, in his words, creator partnerships and sales became the backbone of the business.
Netflix secured creators’ shows through distribution deals with Spotify and two other media companies. YouTube wanted to stop Netflix from poaching its biggest stars, Bloomberg reports. In August 2026 it offered popular channels millions of dollars for temporary exclusivity on their videos.
Pocket money for podcasts
Set against those millions are the words of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. At Bloomberg’s Screentime conference he called deals with podcasters and creators a “very small investment and very small addition”. The terms of Wilson’s contract remain unknown, and it is unclear whether his consulting role will turn into a permanent role. Netflix confirmed his appointment; Wilson did not comment on it. Netflix has not released podcast viewership figures.
A minute in front of the screen
Individual podcasts were also missing from the viewership report Netflix published for the first half of 2026. Between January and March, 13% of US Netflix households played at least a minute of a podcast, estimates measurement firm Samba TV in its first ranking of podcasts on the service. The estimate counts any household that watched Netflix for at least a minute in that quarter as a Netflix household. The film KPop Demon Hunters was seen by 21% of Netflix households within thirty days of its release. The premiere of the fifth season of Stranger Things was seen by 47%.
Films and series still receive the overwhelming majority of Netflix’s content budget, according to its shareholder letter from April 2026. In it, the company groups video podcasts with games as new additions that broaden its offering with both original shows and a selection of licensed shows from pop culture, lifestyle, true crime and sport. They are watched disproportionately during the day and on mobile. The company sees this as a possible opportunity for additional viewing once it expands its podcast offering.
In the first quarter of 2026, a single show, The Breakfast Club, accounted for over 40% of all podcast views on Netflix, according to Samba TV. It built its audience’s trust over more than ten years, and the measurement firm sees this as the reason Netflix licenses up to 80% of its podcast content from established creators: “That's not something you can manufacture overnight.” Netflix is competing with YouTube for shows like this, and buying them is now Wilson’s job, for now as a consultant.
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