It’s finally time to retire the word “podcast.”

according to “2025 Recap” feature on YouTubethe podcast I consumed the most on his platform was Seth Meyers’ recurring segment “A closer look” In his presentation Late night.

Last year, I would have said this is not a podcast. It’s actually a clip from a TV show. But in 2025, with almost every major podcast having a video component, the definition of the word “podcast” has become largely meaningless. The decades-old talk show format is now indistinguishable from similar podcasts Good luck with Amy Poehler, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Tea Club Tea with Shannon Sharpand other offers in Top of Spotify’s podcast charts. In fact, they are now on the same playing field.

Scrolling through my YouTube feed, most of the suggestions in the Podcast tab are late-night talk show interviews, host-driven video essays, food reviews, and cable news segments — a far cry from what we’re used to using the term for: narrative audio journalism and roundtable discussions.

So, in 2026, instead of trying to pinpoint What is a podcastI think we need to stop using the word altogether. “Podcasts” have become an outdated or even potentially obsolete Internet relic, similar to the way the phrase “web series” has faded from online use.

The need for something new Labels

So what do we call these formats instead? I don’t think we will invent a new word, but rather reuse an old one instead.

BloombergAshley Carman noticed this change in Covering The Podcast Show in London last May:

…Two separate panelists clarified that they do not call their podcasts “podcasts.” The team calls their shows “shows,” said Georgie Holt, CEO of FlightStory, the company behind Stephen Bartlett’s CEO Diaries. In a conversation with me on stage, Max Cutler, founder of Pave Studios, said exactly the same thing.

Anecdotally, I heard this change in nomenclature from “podcasts” to “shows” internally here at Vox Media as well, and it was echoed by my colleagues at other media companies as well.

Using the word “show” seems to be a more marketable term for advertising, especially when celebrity names are attached to the project. Pitching podcasts to advertisers seems restrictive and ad hoc, but promoting a “show” – hey, that’s where they can get all ears and Eyes, and the ultimate platform where the shows will live. Podcast creators want it Seth Meyers money.

For this reason, fans will likely start calling them “shows” as well, in the same way that consumers are starting to demand inbound marketing terms like “influencers” and “creators.”

We’re seeing the word getting out of the hosts as well. There’s little repetitive going on Adam Friedland displays Now where Guests call the show a podcastand the titular host immediately corrects her, claiming it’s a talk show. Instead of the hackneyed “find us wherever you get podcasts,” I’ve noticed that many hosts are now moving more toward “Like and subscribe“Shaping YouTube Culture.”

All of these podcast shows are starting to live alongside non-podcast shows like hot, chicken shop time, standard wardrobe series, Tonight show Clips etc – so why limit this to a term that used to go hand in hand with iPods?

Unfortunately, all of this also means that much of the openness of podcasting is slowly disappearing and becoming more centralized on platforms like YouTube and Netflix. YouTube says Over a billion people watch podcasts On its platform every month. Reported by Bloomberg Which Netflix will add podcasts to its own streaming platform, developing its own shows and working with major networks like Spotify, iHeartMedia, and Sirius.

In fact, YouTube started it It looks more like Netflix. “Talk show-style podcasts” already exist on YouTube It is considered the next generation of late-night television, especially with CBS signaling the end of investment in the genre through cancellation The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2026 (I can imagine a cheaper-made podcast entering CBS’ late-night lineup instead) and Celebrity press tours prioritize YouTube via traditional network television.

Next year, maybe you won’t be recommending your favorite new podcast to your friend, but instead something you “saw on TV.”

So what about audio-only programming?

Despite all this, I still believe the audio-only format will continue. After all, people still drive cars, and they don’t typically look at a screen for the full three hours of a podcast. In fact, according to Edison’s research, Most podcast listening is done at home. However, most audio-only podcasts are likely to be from more independently run shows. Media companies will still publish audio versions of their video shows to podcatcher apps, but it’s not a priority anymore.

As a result (which has been long overdue since the iPod era), I believe the era of the term “podcast” is over. Perhaps in the future the question “What is a podcast?” It will disappear in favor of the “what”. He was Podcast?”