Crave has announced plans to introduce video podcasts as part of its larger goal of diversifying its content suite.
The streamer didn’t confirm exactly what titles to expect, but it did note that they will be in both English and French, and some will come through a partnership with iHeartRadio Canada. Crave didn’t provide a launch date for video podcasts but says they’re coming “soon.”
In an interview with MobileSyrup, Jerrell Jimerson, Bell Media’s senior vice-president and head of product & experience, said podcasts are one of the ways that Crave is looking to keep up with evolving consumer habits.
“We’re really seeing consumers move much more fluidly over the day between a broader set of apps, whether they’re trying to catch sports highlights or podcasts or creator content,” he said. “At the end of the day, what you’re trying to drive is habit, and you’re trying to create opportunities and moments for people to engage with the product throughout the day. And so if you’re on the train doing your commute, podcasts are a great way for you to engage with Crave.”
Video podcasts are part of Bell’s larger ambitions to transform Crave into what it calls a “seamless, all-in-one entertainment experience.” Another element of that approach is the recent addition of Sports and News Hubs, which brings together live content like sporting events (such as FIFA, NFL and PGA Tour), breaking news coverage and entertainment events (like the Oscars). In particular, Crave will stream FIFA World Cup games in June, and Jimerson says “a ton of work” has gone into making sure the user experience, particularly in terms of infrastructure, is “really fantastic.”
Overall, Jimerson, says one of his key goals when joining Bell last year after serving as a Disney+ and Hulu executive, beyond the standard “content is king” ethos, is to continually update the platform with new features and user experience (UX) improvements. “We have to ship every quarter something that customers see and feel good about, above and beyond a new show,” he said.
This included overseeing a major overhaul last November that saw thousands of hours of premium and free coming to Crave through a larger consolidation with digital CTV brands, a suite of UX tweaks and more. And going forward, Jimerson identifies some other growth opportunities.
First, he confirms that Bell is working on adding short-form video content to Crave amid rival streamers like Amazon and Netflix investing in the space. “You’ll probably see it first on the sports side — just better, tighter integration of highlights, some creator-driven, others sort of editorially created,” he said. “That is happening, so stay tuned.”
Additionally, he notes that Crave is uniquely positioned to further lean into the fact that it’s a uniquely Canadian streamer. For one, that involves better promotion of all of the Canadian content Bell is producing, especially amid mounting conversations about supporting Canadian creators.
“I came from LA. You drive down Sunset [Blvd.] and you see Heated Rivalry on the big billboard, and it’s an HBO billboard, so if you live in LA, I get how you can think that Heated Rivalry is an HBO show,” he says. “There’s no reason anyone in Canada should not know that Heated Rivalry is a Canadian show created and produced by Bell, and they don’t.”
Jimerson also teased some ideas for further integration between Crave and Bell’s other brands.
“One of those unique things that Bell and TSN can do that would be hard for almost any other player is the combination of linear and streaming,” he says. “Nightly news is something that we can provide on Crave, and we don’t really think twice about it. Impossible for Apple, impossible for Netflix — not that they have all the money in the world, so if they wanted to go do it, they could — but they certainly couldn’t provide nightly local news. So I think there are things that we can do as a result of the collection.”
