How YouTube DAI Changes Upfronts, Lessons from SXSW Sydney, & More

Spotify, The Ringer, Netflix and YouTube by Adam Bowie

With the recent announcement that select Spotify Studios and The Ringer podcasts are set to be distributed on Netflix in early 2026, analyst Adam Bowie looks at the specifics of the deal. One detail not as widely discussed is the fact full episodes of the podcasts mentioned in the deal will be removed from YouTube. Bowie’s estimation is that the podcasts involved in the deal likely command higher CPM (cost per thousand impressions) for their podcast audio than the passive ad income from YouTube. That, combined with Netflix likely paying a healthy sum for each episode, makes The Ringer losing full-episode YouTube revenue likely not much of a loss (if it’s a loss at all). On the other side of the deal, Netflix gets to quickly beef up their lean-back talk show content at a relatively low price. Spotify gets the prestige of their video content being living room TV-accessible in a widely-installed app, and Netflix gets a dearth of both content backlog and regularly-updating evergreen shows churning out new episodes.

YouTube’s dynamic brand insertions could unlock the upfront market for creators by Tim Peterson

Starting early next year YouTube is going to pilot a new feature that will allow content creators to swap out normally baked-in sponsored content with a marker for dynamic brand insertions. Peterson proposes not only does this change how sponsored segments in YouTube videos will be priced, it has big back-catalog implications as well. Up until now, watching back-catalog content from sizable YouTubers is stepping into a museum of long-dead promotional offers and brands. With dynamic brand insertions, YouTuber backlogs suddenly are as evergreen a promotional tool as a TV show or podcast. This could mean in 2026 – in addition to YouTube being sold on the general premise that advertising on one of the video sites on the internet is probably a good idea – now creators can make bigger splashes at upfront events selling their now-available video libraries for new content deals.

Still Watching: 2025 Report on Streaming Audiences

Netflix has a new report looking over the year’s trends with streaming audiences, built from combining qualitative, quantitative, and first-party data analysis that specifically focused on Gen Z and Millennial streaming viewers. Data that includes a sample size of 9,000 “frequent streaming viewer” survey respondents. Indie content is on an uptick, with 59% of respondents saying they plan to watch more shows and movies made by small indie filmmakers. 72% of respondents like when brands advertise across a wide range of streaming content, including different genres and narratives. 42% of respondents say their perception of a brand improves when that brand runs ads on or sponsors Netflix content the viewer loves. While these numbers are good, existing numbers for podcasting shows the inherently creator-focused nature of the medium means audiences are more keyed-in to the idea of supporting a brand = making more of their favorite financially possible. Which is to say, it makes total sense why Netflix continues to have an interest in both producing their own podcasts and onboarding podcasts from abroad: podcasting can engage audiences and get them to take the final step into actually watching something on Netflix.

11 podcast takeaways from SXSW Sydney

This year’s edition of SXSW Sydney featured a day of podcasting-focused content. Of the 11 takeaways, many are geared towards broadcast veterans in the audience thinking about podcasting, including former broadcasters extolling the virtues of not having to worry about timed ad breaks or a clock ticking down until the next segment. Similarly, the niche nature of podcasting also means the idea of ‘competitor’ content is far different from fighting for your real-estate on the FM dial. The average person is a fan of many things simultaneously, and podcasts can benefit from collaboration (e.g. cross-pollinating fans with feed drops and hosts guesting on each others’ podcasts).

As for the rest of the news…