YouTube’s dedicated ‘Podcast’ tab rolls more widely on Android TV

We know that YouTube is becoming a new home for podcasts, but to help expand, the dedicated Android TV apps dedicated “Podcasts” sidebar tab is now rolling out widely.

We’re not quite sure when this option first appeared, but it appears that the sidebar “Podcasts” section is now available far more widely on YouTube for Android TV. This change means you shouldn’t need to dive directly into specific YouTube channels to find specific episodes or series of podcasts. This new option sits just below the “Movies & TV” tab and your “Subscriptions.”

One confusing aspect of this new podcasts tab is that you may also see various longer music tracks or mixes in the section despite much of the content not explicitly being podcasts or labeled as such by the original YouTube channel. When you select a podcast, you’re not offered any extra controls or podcast-specific features like time skips. You just view like a regular video with chapters available if added by the original uploader.

Google has been very bullish on podcasts in recent months, and YouTube is becoming one of the premier discovery and content consumption hotspots for this type of content. According to the company’s latest figures, YouTube has over 1 billion monthly podcast users. This accounts for over 400 million listening hours each month on living room devices alone. Given this huge figure, it’s understandable why the YouTube app on Android TV would get a dedicated podcasts tab to help people get into their favorite episodes or discover new content simply by using the built-in navigation options.

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