Just when you thought the podcast hype had reached a peak, TikTok throws its hat in the ring.
It was an inevitable move given how much attention and ad dollars are flowing to podcasts—and that one of its biggest rivals YouTube says 1 billion people watch podcasts on its platform. TikTok’s new partnership with iHeartRadio could be a win-win for both companies as they try to compete.
As you can see from our table above, social apps have long experimented with dedicated podcasting tools and different approaches. TikTok has opted to start its own podcast network, which will include up to 25 new podcasts hosted by TikTok creators. That’s an approach LinkedIn has tried too. Not to be outdone, Meta’s Threads on Tuesday announced it’s testing podcast previews in posts and adding a dedicated link in user profiles.
Other apps have retreated from their podcasting ambitions. Facebook previously allowed people to listen to podcasts directly on its app before shuttering that feature, along with other audio tools, in 2022.
TikTok’s foray into podcasting makes perfect sense. Many hosts already post short clips from their shows across TikTok as well as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts with the hope of driving more people to episodes. And while YouTube is the top platform for listening to or watching podcasts, podcast listeners ages 18 to 34 are more likely to follow or interact with podcast creators on TikTok (49%) and Instagram (45%) than on YouTube (40%), per August 2025 data from Acast and Differentology.
As more podcasters have embraced video and major platforms like Spotify have added more social and money-making features, the urgency for social apps to roll out tools that support podcast creators to drive engagement and ad revenue is high. Podcast ad revenue is expected to surpass $3 billion for the first time in 2025, according to October data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
iHeartRadio has a lot to gain too. As CEO Bob Pittman put it on the company’s third quarter earnings call on Monday: Podcasting is “probably the hottest category of media right now.”
The company’s podcast revenue rose 22.5% to nearly $140 million during the period compared to a year earlier.
Netflix is also reportedly in talks to license video podcasts distributed by iHeartRadio (which we discussed on our podcast last week!) Those shows wouldn’t be available on YouTube, a clear signal of how much companies of all kinds view YouTube as a major threat. Netflix could also develop its own original video podcasts, Bloomberg reported.
Given the popularity of podcast clips on Instagram—and TikTok’s latest move—we predict Instagram could roll out podcasting tools or give podcasts more of a dedicated place on its app. It isn’t going to want to sit this one out.
In other news…
📈Uptick in Creator Economy M&A
The number of creator economy acquisitions could surpass 100 for the first time this year, according to Quartermast Advisors, a boutique M&A advisory firm. The total number of transactions this year has already hit 72, matching the previous record from 2023.
M&A activity in the influencer marketing industry is also picking back up after a sharp decline in the number of transactions in 2024. So far in 2025, there have been at least 15 publicly announced influencer marketing deals, on par with the full year 2024. Last year was still big for influencer marketing M&A, with two of the top five largest transactions since 2014 taking place that year, including Publicis’ acquisition of Influential.
Better macro-economic conditions, improving creator monetization and a focus on scale are what’s driving more (and bigger ticket) creator economy M&A deals this year, per the report. These deals are also becoming more strategic, with buyers prioritizing targets that span multiple geographies and additional capabilities like social commerce and affiliate marketing, reflecting the maturation and expansion of the creator economy.
Instagram’s New Layout
Instagram is rolling out changes to its main feed, including moving DMs to the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. Reels will now be in the second position (where the search button previously was.) Instagram said the update will help users more easily swipe between Reels and conversations, which seem to be the two most popular ways people now use the app.
This isn’t the first time Instagram has experimented with putting DMs front and center. In July 2024, around the time messaging started picking up steam, Jasmine was among the first to spot that Instagram was running a test that replaced the “post” button with the DM button on the navigation bar.
As with all major changes to an app’s layout, users typically complain, which is why Instagram announced in October it would be making these changes. To be fair, backlash generally settles down quickly.
The Round Up
Patreon announced new features designed to help creators grow their audiences within the membership platform. Quips, for example, are similar to tweets, allowing creators to post text, photos or video for anyone on Patreon to comment on. Creators can also now collaborate on posts with other creators so both sets of their fans can see them, similar to existing tools on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. These new features could help Patreon keep creators and users within their apps, instead of going to social media apps for distribution, awareness and interactions.
Andreessen Horowitz announced a new eight-week program called the a16z New Media Fellowship for operators and creators “shaping the future of media.” The program, which includes workshops and dinners, starts in January. Speakers will include the firm’s co-founder Marc Andreessen, newsletter writer Lenny Rachitsky and prominent comms strategist Lulu Cheng Meservey. The fellowship is an acknowledgement by one of the most storied Silicon Valley venture capital firms that the media industry is undergoing a massive upheaval. It’s also a way for the VC firm to try to identify the next “new media” founders.
CNN is adding a short-form video feed to its app’s home page with clips from CNN stories. Users can swipe through them like they do on TikTok. It’s the latest example of how traditional media outlets are trying to adapt to how people consume information. Individual anchors and reporters, such as Kaitlan Collins, have also increasingly been posting short-form videos to their personal social accounts.
👩💻Big Number: 15 Billion
That’s the number of scam ads, ranging from fraudulent e-commerce sites to banned medical devices and illegal online casinos, that Meta Platforms estimates it shows users of its apps every day, according to internal documents reviewed by Reuters.
For context, Meta had an average of 3.54 billion daily active users across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as of September. That means that there are about 4 scam ads for every Meta user.
Meta also makes a lot of money from those ads: In the documents, Meta estimated that 10% of its 2024 ad revenue, about $16 billion, would come from scam ads, which is more than TikTok generated in US ad revenue that year, per EMARKETER estimates.
While fraudulent advertising is not a new or unique problem to Meta, the scale raises serious questions about the credibility of its ad platform and its commitment to user safety, which can have ramifications for companies and creators who use Meta’s apps.
Creator Moves
MrBeast is opening a temporary “Beast Land” theme park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will run from November 13 to December 27. In other MrBeast-Middle East news…The mega YouTuber is partnering with the Billion Followers Summit, an annual Dubai-based conference, on a new “kindness” campaign that will select 10 creators to help build a new village in Ghana.
It’s a big get for the conference, now in its third year, and for Dubai, which has been trying to establish itself as a global hub for influencers. In January 2024, the government announced a $40.8 billion fund to support and attract content creators from around the world.
Alex Warren received a Grammy nomination in the best new artist category. Warren, who was part of the TikTok collective the Hype House, is one of the few social media creators who has managed to successfully break into the music industry. But his hit song “Ordinary,” which spent 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, was snubbed.
Alix Earle and Colin & Samir are among the creators Microsoft is tapping for campaigns to help promote its chatbot Copilot amid competition with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Jake Shane will star in—and executive produce—a new Hulu comedy based on his life. The podcaster and TikTok star will play a version of himself in the show, which will follow him and his friends as they navigate online fame. It’s the latest example of creators starring in shows produced by streaming platforms, which have exceeded at least a dozen this year.
Political Download
Gavin Newsom has been quietly ramping up his influencer strategy. In addition to appearing with creators on livestreams, including popular Substacker and historian Heather Cox Richardson and YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen, the Democratic California governor’s team has also tapped influencers to help with fundraising and in-person events. “It’s not a program, it’s a way of doing things,” Lindsey Cobia, Newsom’s senior political adviser, told Politico. “It is truly ingrained in everything we do.”
Jack Schlossberg, the 32-year-old grandson of President John F. Kennedy, is preparing to run for Congress, Politico reported. The Democratic influencer has more than 700,000 followers on Instagram where he’s regularly outspoken about politics.
Naomi Seibt, a far-right German activist and influencer with about 460,000 followers on X, said she is seeking asylum in the US citing “political persecution” in her home country. The 25-year-old’s application comes after the Trump administration indicated it would prioritize admission to white refugees.
