A Bloomberg article recently caught my attention and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Netflix has found that many of its biggest shows lose a significant portion of their audience after Season 1. One Piece lost more than 30% of viewers by Season 2. The Night Agent reportedly lost 50% by Season 2 and another 35% by Season 3. The shows aren't necessarily failing — people just aren't coming back. It's a retention problem.
And it made me ask: are podcasters accidentally making the same mistake?
First, Let's Look at Where Podcast Consumption Is Right Now
Video podcast consumption is at an all-time high. For the first time, the numbers for watching and listening are nearly equal — 82% of weekly podcast consumers watch video podcasts, and 78% still listen to audio. People aren't choosing one over the other. They're consuming however it's most convenient for them — watching on YouTube, listening in the car, putting it on while they cook or walk the dog.
YouTube has also become the primary discovery platform for podcasts. Among first-year podcast consumers, 77% actively watch video podcasts, 75% listen to audio, and 72% started listening to the audio version after first discovering the show through video. That's a massive insight: video is the front door, and audio is where the loyalty builds.
Apple is also making moves into video podcasting, with early numbers showing stronger engagement on video-enabled shows. The ecosystem is shifting, and podcasters who are showing up in both formats are winning.
Podcast Listeners Are Loyal — But Only If You Stay Top of Mind
Here's what the data tells us: daily podcast consumers spend about 5 hours and 11 minutes every day with audio. 36% of that time is with podcasts. 51% of ad-supported audio listening is podcast. These are not casual listeners. Podcast audiences are deeply loyal.
The challenge isn't getting their attention. It's keeping it — especially when you go on a break.
Unlike Netflix, which can disappear for 18 months or more while producing a new season, a podcaster might only be away for 4, 6, or 10 weeks. But here's the risk: if your audience has something else to listen to while you're gone, and they fall in love with another show, are they coming back to yours?
Should You Release Your Podcast in Seasons? (It's Complicated)
I want to be clear: there are plenty of valid reasons to structure your podcast in seasons. Avoiding burnout. Planning your production schedule. Coordinating guests. Pursuing sponsorships. Testing whether podcasting is sustainable for your budget and lifestyle. Some of my clients start Season 1 as solo episodes just to find their footing, then bring in guests for Season 2. That's smart, not a failure.
The question isn't whether to do seasons. The question is: what happens to your audience while you're away?
The Real Shift: Plan Your Off-Season Before Your Season Ends
If Netflix — with billions of dollars, world-class producers, and massive marketing budgets — is still trying to solve a retention problem, independent podcasters should be learning from that before it becomes their problem too.
Here's what I recommend to my clients: start planning your off-season content before your season wraps. Here's what that can look like:
- Release your clips strategically. Don't push all your clips out at once during the season. Save some for the off-season so your audience keeps seeing your content in their feeds even when new episodes aren't dropping.
- Package your best behind-the-scenes footage. You probably captured things on your phone during recording that you never shared. That's content. Use it.
- Do a deep dive into a past episode. Record a short solo episode that expands on a conversation from your season — "A deeper look at Episode 5" — and release it during your break.
- Bring a guest back for an update. If you had a great guest with something new happening in their world, a 15–20 minute check-in recording is easy to produce and keeps your feed active.
- Try a reaction video. Reaction content is blowing up on YouTube. Why not react to your own best episodes? It's low-effort, high-engagement, and gives longtime listeners a reason to revisit your content.
- Write a newsletter or blog post. This conversation I'm having right now? I'm turning it into an article. Extending your content beyond the episode keeps your audience connected to you even when they're not listening.
- Plan a Q&A episode. Collect questions from your audience during the season and answer them in a dedicated episode released during your break.
Consistency Is What Separates the Shows That Grow
I've been watching the metrics for the shows we produce here at Perspective Studio Productions. The higher-performing shows — some averaging 20,000 to 30,000 views — aren't just consistent with episode releases. They're consistent with their clips, their social content, and their overall presence. They're not disappearing between episodes. They're always in their audience's feed in some form.
Tools like Opus Clip can generate 10–15 usable clips from a single episode. If you're not using all of them during the season, bank them. Schedule them out during your off-season. There's more content sitting in your existing recordings than most podcasters realize.
The Bottom Line
Don't just plan your season. Plan what your audience will experience in between seasons. Because audiences don't wait — they develop new habits and find new shows. As long as your content is great and engaging, there's no reason to let them drift.
Ready to record your next season? Explore our Podcast & Content Recording Packages or book a studio room at our Whitby or Brampton location. Let's keep your audience coming back.