YouTube is stealthily dominating our living rooms

THE day is fast approaching when you could rib a young ’un about their having a face for radio, and they might not understand the insult. Where to even begin? First, you’d have to explain “radio” to your young listener.

“It’s like a podcast,” you’d say, trying not to sound middle-aged and incredulous. Your callow conversation partner might still not know what you mean, and this would be all YouTube’s fault. The video-sharing platform, which turned 20 last week, has quietly taken over our living rooms while (and because) we weren’t paying attention.

Today, the podcast-sphere is the latest of YouTube’s annexed territories, co-opted into becoming a visual medium. Last year, 31 per cent of weekly podcast listeners aged 13 and older in the United States used YouTube as their go-to app for podcasts, compared to the 27 per cent and 15 per cent that used Spotify and Apple Podcasts, respectively.