Zencastr offers a 1080p video RSS feed on all paid plans, allowing you to distribute your video podcast to directories that support video via RSS feeds. This guide covers how RSS feeds work in podcasting, which directories support video podcasts via RSS versus other methods, and how to enable your video RSS feed.
In this article:
What an RSS Feed Is and How it Works in Podcasting
An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed is a text file that stores, organizes, and distributes web content updates in a standardized format. In podcasting, your RSS feed contains all the essential information about your show and its episodes, including titles, descriptions, and direct links to your media files.
Your RSS feed is hosted online, typically on a hosting platform like Zencastr, and is accessible via a unique URL. When you publish a new episode on your hosting platform, the RSS feed automatically updates with the latest information. The key benefit of using an RSS feed in podcasting is that it allows you to publish your content once and easily distribute it across multiple apps. By providing podcast directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and others with your RSS feed URL, they regularly check it for updates to list new episodes promptly on their apps.
What a Video RSS Feed Is
In podcasting, a video RSS feed contains all the same essential information about your show and its episodes, including titles, descriptions, and direct links to your media files. The key difference is that the media links point to video files instead of audio files. This allows you to distribute video episodes to podcast directories that support video via an RSS feed.
Directories That Support Video Podcasts Via RSS Feed
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts is the largest directory that supports video podcasts through an RSS feed. It can display video resolutions up to 4K, though 1080p is recommended for the optimal performance. Video episodes are labeled and can be viewed in smaller or full-screen modes on their apps. Apple Podcasts provides analytics for video episodes. For more details about video podcasts on Apple Podcasts, read their guide here.
Directories That Support Video Podcasts Via Other Methods
Spotify
Spotify supports video podcasts but not via an RSS feed. Instead, you need to upload video files for specific episodes directly to their Spotify for Podcasters platform. Analytics for video episodes are only viewable within Spotify for Podcasters, as the video file replaces the audio file for that episode and is hosted directly on Spotify. This means analytics for video episodes will not be sent to your hosting provider. For more details about creating video episodes on Spotify, read their guide here.
YouTube
YouTube supports video podcasts but not via an RSS feed. Instead, they require that video be uploaded directly to their platform, through their YouTube Studio tool. Zencastr’s YouTube integration simplifies this by allowing you to post video episodes to YouTube without leaving Zencastr. Unlike traditional podcast platforms, YouTube tracks views, not downloads, so analytics are only available within YouTube and can’t be sent to your hosting provider. For more information about podcasts on YouTube, read their guide here.
Enabling Your Video RSS Feed
What Happens When You Enable Video RSS
When you enable your video RSS feed, it converts all the episode files on your feed from MP3 to MP4. Depending on how many episodes you have published, this process may take some time. Future episodes will automatically be published in the MP4 format. The video episodes will be sent to podcast directories that support video RSS, such as Apple Podcasts, while audio versions will continue to be sent to directories that don’t, like Spotify.
Enabling Video RSS
To turn your video RSS feed on:
On your Dashboard, click the Episodes tab on the left sidebar menu.
Click Disabled under ‘Video RSS’ to the right of the show image.
Result: Your episode files will start converting from audio to video. You may need to refresh the page to see that your video RSS is enabled.
Related Questions
I only want to distribute audio episodes. How do I turn the video RSS feed off?
If your video RSS feed is enabled but you only want to distribute audio episodes, please contact Zencastr Support via chat or email so that we can disable the video RSS feed for you.
I have video RSS enabled but my video episodes are still showing on Spotify and YouTube as audio-only. How do I fix this?
Spotify and YouTube do not support publication of video episodes on their platforms via RSS feed. So even with video RSS enabled, only audio is sent to those platforms. To publish video episodes on these platforms, see the "Directories That Support Video Podcasts Via Other Methods" section above for more information and links to their guides.
If Spotify and YouTube don’t accept video via RSS feeds, why should I enable this?
Apple Podcasts is one of the largest podcast directories, and it only accepts video podcasts through an RSS feed. If you want to get your video episodes on Apple Podcasts, a video RSS feed is essential.