Netflix's New 'Horrendously Bad' Feature Sparks Outrage

For years, Netflix has dominated the streaming space as the most popular streaming service in the world, thanks to its expansive library of movies, shows, documentaries, and specials. Recently, however, the streaming giant has stepped into a new entertainment avenue, but it's been a shaky rollout that fans have not exactly been pleased with.

Over the past several months, Netflix has been gradually moving into the podcast space, hosting video versions of several popular podcasts on its streaming network, many of which were previously hosted on YouTube. However, fans have expressed frustration at the new platform, with some going as far as to indicate that they have stopped consuming podcasts altogether since they moved to Netflix.

Netflix Moves into the Podcast Space

Over the past several months, Netflix has also begun partnering with companies like iHeartMedia, Barstool Sports, Spotify Studios, and The Ringer to bring popular podcasts exclusively to Netflix.

The shows include The Bill Simmons Podcast, My Favorite Murder, and Barstool’s Pardon My Take, Jake Shane's Therapuss, among several others. In addition to becoming the new home for these beloved podcasts, Netflix has also begun launching its own original podcasts, as well.

Clearly, this is an intentional push from the streaming giant to step into the video podcast space, which has been absolutely dominated by YouTube up to this point.

Several Missing Features

Many of the podcasts that are now hosted on Netflix were previously published on YouTube as video podcasts. However, the experience of watching the video podcast on Netflix is nowhere near as seamless and user-friendly as it is on YouTube.

It's quite common in the podcast space for users to listen to podcasts at a higher speed than it was originally recorded, allowing users to consume the podcasts quicker and more efficiently. Unlike YouTube, however, Netflix does not offer the ability to adjust the speed of the podcast.

Additionally, Netflix's platform lacks chapters, which are commonly used by podcasters to highlight different portions of the podcast for viewers. It also lacks the ability to play vertically on mobile.

Netflix has also taken away the community aspect that was present on YouTube, as users can no longer comment on the videos or engage with other listeners.

While Netflix does the bare-bones job of hosting a video version of the podcast, it's missing pretty much everything else that differentiates a video podcast from a show or special.

Users Express Frustration

Needless to say, this change has sparked widespread frustration from users, who have voiced their displeasure on social media.

"Really don’t like I can’t watch Bill Simmons podcast at my usual 1.25 speed on Netflix," one user wrote in a post on X.

"Can you please tell the tech nerds at Netflix we need chapters and playback speed options on podcast vids? Need to be able to watch at 1.5x, 1.75x or 2x speed," one user replied to Barstool Sports personality Dan "Big Cat" Katz , whose Pardon My Take podcast is now featured on Netflix.

"The Netflix platform is unfortunately horrendously bad. No timestamps, comments, only plays in horizontal on mobile, have to search for the show every time or start listening again to previous episode," another user replied to Big Cat.

"Netfix is now a podcast platform too? With no feedback comments. No 2x speed play. IOW, bot a podcast. What's the difference between a podcast and a show? Why would I use Netflix for podcasts? Netflix is now a cable channel - app plus money is the new cable box. Evolving, mixed up media. I guess we got our a la carte cable channels but it's a mess," another person wrote in a post.

"Podcast in netflix is crazy, I need the comments section," someone else added.

Some users have even reported that they've stopped listening to some of the podcasts altogether since they moved to Netflix.

"All the pods that I watched on YouTube that went to Netflix I basically just stopped listening to even tho they have them in the podcast app," someone wrote in a post.

"Half the podcast I've listen to for the last decade lost me when they went to Netflix. It's just not easy to access," someone else commented.

"I’m not going to watch or listen to a single podcast on Netflix, I don’t understand that move at all but salute," another person added.

It's not clear whether or not Netflix has any plans to address these issues, but these popular podcasts appear to be losing listeners as a result of this move.