Using Spotify’s Distribution API and Open Access, Supporting Cast enables creators to publish subscriber-only video episodes that play inside the Spotify app
[Washington, DC, May 27, 2026] — Supporting Cast, the leading subscription platform for top-tier podcasters, today announced that it is delivering gated, subscriber-only video on Spotify using Spotify’s Distribution API. Subscribers who connect their Spotify account to a publisher’s Supporting Cast-powered account can now watch exclusive video episodes natively in the Spotify app alongside the rest of their audio and video library.
The launch builds on Supporting Cast’s early leadership with Spotify Open Access in 2021, which allowed paying subscribers to listen to exclusive, ad-free episodes inside Spotify. With video now flowing through the same entitlement system, Supporting Cast publishers can offer a single subscription that delivers premium audio and premium video wherever the listener prefers to consume it.
“Our partners initially focused their subscription programs on gated audio,” said David Stern, CEO of Supporting Cast. “Now that they’re investing in video, we expect their exclusive content will follow a similar trajectory. Our competitors are largely focused on driving video consumption in their proprietary apps, while Supporting Cast and our partners expect growth in the open ecosystem where Spotify Open Access is a key pillar.”
LAUNCH PARTNERS
Two journalist-led independent podcasts are first out of the gate: Libero, launched in 2025 by a collective of leading football writers from The Athletic, The New York Times, The Independent, The Guardian and The Observer; and Legacy, hosted by historian Peter Frankopan and journalist Afua Hirsch, which reexamines the lives of historical figures. Goalhanger (The Rest Is Politics, The Rest Is History), Jim Harold’s Campfire, and Betches Media will follow later in Q2 of 2026 with their own subscriber-only video on Spotify published via Supporting Cast.
“Most of us in podcasting are still figuring out the role of video,” said Jim Harold, Host of Jim Harold’s Campfire. “But we know that energizing the bond between audience and host is the single greatest driver of subscription growth — and nothing brings us closer to our audiences than video. It makes them feel like they’re in the room with us. They become part of the party. With so much of our audience on Spotify, we’re tremendously excited that they won’t have to leave the app to watch the shows they love — and that potential new subscribers can discover ‘must-watch’ content that requires a Plus Club membership right where they’re already listening. As usual, Supporting Cast leads the way.”
WHY IT MATTERS FOR THE INDUSTRY
Spotify announced its Distribution API on January 7, 2026, naming five hosting partners at launch, all of them serving the open, ad-supported video market. Supporting Cast’s integration is the first to use the Distribution API for entitlement-gated, subscriber-only video, opening a new monetization surface for premium podcasters who want the reach of Spotify without giving up the recurring revenue of a direct subscriber relationship.
The release marks an important step forward for subscription podcasting on Spotify. While video publishing has historically required more manual workflows across different platforms and tools, Spotify’s Distribution API introduces a programmatic path for partners to deliver video at scale. Supporting Cast’s integration extends this by enabling publishers to manage and distribute both premium audio and video through a single workflow, creating a more unified experience for their subscribers on Spotify.
HOW IT WORKS
Publishers upload or attach video to any episode in the Supporting Cast admin and either publish the episode immediately or schedule it for future publishing. If the publisher has connected a feed to Spotify via Supporting Cast’s existing integration, episodes with video are automatically delivered to Spotify as video; episodes without video continue to deliver as audio. For the podcasters, there are no extra workflow steps and no double-publishing errors. When it comes to measuring performance, podcasters can track performance alongside audio metrics in their Supporting Cast dashboard or in their Spotify for Creators dashboard.
For listeners, the experience is seamless: Spotify users who have linked their Spotify account to a Supporting Cast publisher’s subscription account see video episodes appear in the app exactly the way free episodes do, and can choose at any time to watch or to dismiss the screen and continue listening as audio.
ABOUT SUPPORTING CAST
Supporting Cast is the podcast subscription platform behind premium membership programs for the world’s largest and most respected podcast publishers — including NPR, SiriusXM, NBC, CBS, Lemonada Media, Goalhanger, Slate, and Vox Media. Supporting Cast handles private RSS feed delivery, payment processing, member management, video publishing, newsletters, and community. Learn more at supportingcast.fm.
MEDIA CONTACT
Molly DeMellier
607-316-0639
