Natalie Harvey, CEO, Mamamia
This week marked a structural shift for the Australian media landscape. The next era of the fastest-growing media channel has officially arrived, with Apple Podcasts going live with video podcasts. This expansion will be a game-changer for audiences, publishers, and brands alike. That's why Mamamia is leading from the front on Apple Podcasts. Seeing Australia's number one podcast, Mamamia Out Loud lighting up the Apple Podcasts video welcome page is about more than embracing new tech, it's a moment that marks the culture we've lived by since we first hit record. Demonstrating that when you are audience-first, you don't just follow the market, you create it.
We Didn't Wait for the Trend, We Built for It
We've spent the last nine months in a relentless cycle of testing and learning. We didn't wait for the platforms to tell us video was the future; we built the infrastructure to greet it. Our new, state-of-the-art studios weren't a vanity project, they were a strategic necessity. We knew that to capitalise on this new era of video first content, we had to be ready on day one.
We knew that because of our deep, obsessive understanding of audience behavior. Our social extensions were our "canary in the coal mine." They proved that our audience didn't just want to hear the conversation; they wanted to see the chemistry, the eye rolls, and the breakthroughs. Those social snippets were the breadcrumbs that led us to a larger realisation: for the modern consumer, the barrier between "audio" and "video" is dissolving.
We are not abandoning audio. It remains our soul, our heritage, and our primary engine of connection. But we've always known that to truly own the ear, we must enable audiences to build a 360-degree relationship with the voices. We could see that video was a multiplier to the strength of the parasocial relationships our audience have with our host talent. The deeper the parasocial relationship, the greater the trust. The greater the trust, the deeper the impact for brands.
We Follow Our Audience, Not the Market
Our obsession with following the behaviours of our audience can also be demonstrated by our fast start podcast programming strategy. We saw a distinct audience need to go harder over the January period, a time when most of the industry goes on break but audiences are craving content. We knew that when our audience has more time, they want more connection, not less.
We leaned in. We increased our output, we refined our storytelling, and we hit the ground running. It worked in 2025, and it worked even better in 2026. This strategy delivered a staggering 220,000 more listeners in February 2026 compared to February 2025. That was no accident; it was a deliberate, data-backed play to create momentum that carries us through the entire year.
The Bottom Line?
For too long, women's media has been pigeonholed as something "niche." But you cannot call the biggest podcast in the country niche. When you are the #1 show in the nation for two months running, you aren't just a category leader, you are the mainstream. In a fragmented market, you will be hard-pressed to find audience growth and loyalty like this on any other platform. This isn't just "content"; it's a high-engagement ecosystem built on a foundation of deep trust.
This momentum we have created and launch of video on Apple Podcasts is why we are celebrating with new artwork that showcases the brilliant voices that make Mamamia Out Loud what it is. It's a visual representation of the influence.
If our pods, and specifically our new video pods, are not part of your audio and video mix, you are simply missing out on the most influential demographic in the country. You can't buy this much engagement anywhere else.
To the team at Apple: congratulations on recognising that the future of podcasting is multi-dimensional.
We've always been ready for our close-up. Now, everyone else can see why.