What podcasts looked like in 2024 — literally

In 2024, podcasts person gotten person to becoming a video-first medium. Though video podcasts person been astir a comparatively agelong time, shows from The New York Times, NPR, and galore different podcast networks that person been audio-only for years person precocious started adding a video constituent successful bid to summation caller listenership. In fact, Spotify, a large subordinate successful podcasts, is astir to statesman paying podcasters to bring videos to the platform. 

And aft years of producers trying to get audio shows to spell viral connected societal media, podcasts are present dominating TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts aft video producers realized they tin conscionable movie the endowment talking. Meanwhile, play podcasts are looking to pull younger audiences who grew up connected YouTube. As a result, video producers are figuring retired however to marque podcasts, and audio producers are figuring retired however to marque videos.

I’ve noticed a fewer processing trends successful this video-first podcasting format. This isn’t surprising; erstwhile 1 shaper discovers a look that works, others are going to effort it. Let’s instrumentality a look astatine existent plan and tech trends — and past I’ll speech astir what I deliberation whitethorn make implicit the adjacent twelvemonth oregon so.

Home design

Many of today’s podcast studios look similar surviving rooms and basements. This isn’t a caller phenomenon with speech shows, but a batch of podcasts started retired successful a surviving space, and larger media companies person adopted that aesthetic. Lamps. Fireplaces. Fake plants. Bookshelves. This situation gives a much “laid back” benignant of long-form interviewing, which is typically the vibe of astir chat-style podcasts.

Couches and comfy chairs amusement up a batch connected these video shows. The circular array has been ditched, and leisure is cardinal — it’s a batch much comfy of an situation for talking hours astatine a time. Both hosts and guests are often connected a sofa unneurotic oregon sitting successful comfy chairs separately. 

Another inclination I’ve noticed are these woody slats connected the partition successful podcast studios — our ain Vox Media abstraction has gone with this plan arsenic well. These enactment amended for dependable absorption portion inactive looking similar a surviving space. This is already looking to beryllium a signifier of mid-2020 video podcasts. 

With wide-shot camera angles showcasing the full room, determination is usually thing successful the mediate of the screen, similar a TV oregon a elephantine logo of the show, to make a symmetrical workplace look. Neon signs and colored lights are precise trendy close present due to the fact that they adhd a colorful glow to a much muted workplace space. Lots of cursive lettering.

Branding is often prioritized successful video, and astir producers deliberation that means virtually looking astatine the logo for 2 hours. This is besides an casual mode to fto a TikTok scroller cognize what amusement they are watching (though this typically doesn’t harvest good for vertical video).

More attraction to tech

Microphones are often placed connected level stands that widen implicit the couches (these articulating roar stands person been staples successful signaling studios for decades). As a result, the stands often look from retired of the camera framework and instrumentality up broadly successful beforehand of guests’ faces awkwardly. Poles sticking retired astatine assorted incongruent angles look adjacent messier erstwhile you person aggregate guests connected abstracted chairs. 

Though caller kinds of mic stands for podcasts person been introduced to the market, galore shows are ditching the long, awkward roar poles successful favour of having hosts and guests clasp their microphones instead. This feels a spot much authentic and intimate onscreen, and galore stand-up comedians similar this method. However, it tin get a spot awkward with inexperienced guests who speech with their hands oregon who don’t cognize however to clasp a microphone with a constrictive polar pattern. 

It tin get adjacent worse. When podcasts are audio archetypal but with a video component, you often spot awkward practices caught connected camera, similar this lawsuit wherever each impermanent is holding their telephone up to their look to grounds their audio portion looking straight astatine the viewer. This is simply a communal signifier for vigor interviews but isn’t large erstwhile video is involved.

The Shure SM7B microphones are inactive truly fashionable successful this mean arsenic good arsenic the budget MV7 model. For the purposes of branding, cubes with the sanction of the amusement are often stuck awkwardly connected the bottommost of the microphone. This is reminiscent of microphone flags connected newscaster instrumentality mics, and they are present being retrofitted for these classical vigor workplace microphones. This is apt due to the fact that it’s much effectual branding connected vertically cropped videos than a large logo connected the partition successful a studio.

Big isolating headphones are communal successful vigor and podcasts and are inactive utilized successful a batch of video versions. But erstwhile guests are distant and are looking straight astatine their webcam, those ample receptor cups instrumentality retired precise awkwardly — much truthful than if you’re looking astatine someone’s illustration view. 

So that’s what a batch of video podcasts person looked similar done 2024. But however astir adjacent year?

The aboriginal looks much professional

I judge that, successful 2025, podcast producers volition yet halt pursuing these tropes and effort to differentiate themselves. Some producers that were hired to assistance marque the modulation to video volition commencement questioning the crushed for the ample headphones and heavy microphones covering people’s faces and opt for smaller lavalier mics and in-ear monitors. 

New audiences whitethorn commencement to hide astir the connection “podcast” and notation to the chat shows they ticker arsenic conscionable “shows.” Media executives volition effort to opt for syndication of the programs connected linear platforms similar Roku, Pluto, oregon Tubi. The bladed enactment betwixt podcasts and TV shows volition get thinner. 

More consumer-priced tools for accumulation person entered the market, fundamentally turning a elemental table setup and a MacBook into a afloat stocked power room. Hosts are already moving retired of the workplace and into barber shops, tennis courts, and connected sidewalks. AI tools similar Descript, Hush, and Accentize tin crook less-than-optimal microphone recordings into fuller, beefier broadcast-style recordings. Podcasters whose instrumentality is little susceptible of handling uncontrolled signaling environments volition particularly payment from these postproduction tools. 

And who knows? Perhaps the pendulum volition plaything backmost again erstwhile budgets for these shows go excessively costly to support a video amusement moving aggregate times a week without a beardown following. Maybe they volition adjacent standard backmost down to an audio-only format. And possibly that is wherever they volition restart a caller experimentation successful the audio medium.