YouTube Is Now the UK's Most Used Podcast Platform
Spotify Just Got Overtaken
New data from Edison Research shows YouTube has become the most used podcast platform in the UK. In their latest measurement, 29% of weekly podcast listeners aged 15 and over said YouTube is the service they use most for podcasts, edging out Spotify at 28%. It's the first time YouTube has taken that top spot in the UK.
This isn't a new pattern globally. YouTube passed Spotify in the US almost two years ago. The UK is just catching up, and slower than the US did.
Why the UK moved slower
The gap is smaller here for a specific reason: public media. Fifteen percent of UK podcast listeners use BBC Sounds as their main platform, a number with no real equivalent in the US market. BBC Sounds is eating into the same audience YouTube and Spotify are competing for, which has kept YouTube's UK growth slower than what it saw stateside. That's a meaningful difference if you're planning a UK podcast strategy off assumptions built on US data. The competitive set here includes a major broadcaster with built in trust and distribution that simply doesn't exist in most other markets.
Don't overread a one point gap
29% to 28% is a genuine shift, and it's the first time YouTube has come out ahead. It is not a landslide. Spotify remains close behind, and a single point can move back the other way with the next measurement cycle. Treat this as a signal that the race has tightened to a dead heat, not as proof YouTube has decisively won UK podcast attention.
What this means if you're building a podcast presence
If you or your brand publish a podcast and have treated Spotify as the default primary platform in the UK, this data says that assumption no longer holds. YouTube is now at minimum equal footing, and the video format it supports gives it a distribution advantage Spotify doesn't have. A podcast published as video on YouTube can also surface through YouTube search, suggested videos, and Shorts clipped from the main episode, none of which Spotify offers.
For creators already running a podcast on YouTube, this confirms the platform is worth treating as a primary channel rather than a repost destination for an audio-first show. For brands sponsoring or producing podcast content in the UK, it's a reason to ask whether your current platform mix reflects where the audience actually is now, rather than where it was two or three years ago.
The bigger picture: this is the second data point in as many months showing YouTube consolidating attention across video and audio in ways that used to sit with separate platforms. Worth watching whether that trend holds when the fuller UK Podcast Consumer Report lands.
