YouTube is reportedly paying podcasters to film their shows

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a report, YouTube is trying to get people to create video versions of their shows by giving them money. According to people close to the situation, YouTube is offering up to $300,000 for individual shows and up to $500,000 for the entire podcasting network.

Despite being a platform for video, YouTube has a number of popular podcasts, including H3 and Full Send. It helped foster the growth of the Joe Rogan Experience, which was purchased by Spotify in 2020.

The platform has made small advances towards pleasing the audience. In October, it began allowing all Canadian users to listen to audio without having the app open. Kai Chuk was hired to lead the company's podcasting efforts. Getting popular shows to make accompanying videos that are exclusive to the platform could help build an audience that wants more than just audio.

The Verge reached out to the company but didn't hear back.