Can Netflix Make Podcasts Into Must-See TV?

Bill Simmons
Beginning this Sunday, some of the most prolific sports audio stars of the last decade, including Bill Simmons (pictured), Zach Lowe, and Dan “Big Cat” Katz, will move their podcast video shows onto Netflix and abandon their presence on YouTube. Photo: Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Spotify
Julia Alexander
January 6, 2026

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At this point, the moat metaphor used to describe Netflix’s advantage over its competitors is perhaps less appropriate than envisioning C.E.O. Ted Sarandos on an island kingdom of his own creation—one that’s about to get a lot more crowded. Beginning this Sunday, some of the most prolific sports audio stars of the last decade, including Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, and Dan “Big Cat” Katz, will move their podcast video shows onto the streamer and abandon their presence on YouTube. For these guys, the move is predicated on a hope that the platform can offer TV-sized paychecks, even as their shows mostly retain the D.I.Y. aesthetic—and perhaps offer a preamble of what talk shows, that old standby format, looks like in the streaming era.

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