In one sentence: Video streaming turns the video file you already upload to an episode into an adaptive stream that plays smoothly on any device and connection - Springcast handles the conversion, the hosting, and the playback statistics for you.
What it does
When you add a video to an episode, that single file has to work everywhere: on a phone over mobile data, on a laptop on office Wi-Fi, on a big screen on a fast connection. A single fixed file can't do all three well - it's either too heavy for the phone or too soft for the big screen.
Video streaming solves this by converting your upload into several quality levels at once and bundling them into an adaptive stream. During playback, the player automatically picks the best quality the viewer's connection can handle at that moment, and switches up or down as conditions change. The viewer just sees a video that starts quickly and doesn't buffer.
All of this is handled by Springcast. You upload one file, exactly as you do today. There's nothing to configure, no encoding settings to choose, and no third-party video service to connect.
Who has access
Video streaming is included on the Professional, Scale, and Company plans. On those plans it's switched on automatically - there's nothing to enable.
On plans that include video uploads but not streaming, your file is still stored and available; it simply won't be converted into an adaptive stream. To add streaming, upgrade the show's plan.
Important - quota: Video counts toward your quotas the same way audio does. The video file you upload counts toward your storage, and every stream a viewer watches counts toward your traffic. Each plan comes with a default storage and traffic allowance, and both can be expanded whenever you need more. To see your current usage and add a storage or traffic add-on, go to the Usage page in your Springcast dashboard.
Note: Video streaming is separate from pushing a video to YouTube. Those are two independent options on the same page - you can use either, both, or neither.
How to use it
- Open the episode you want to add a video to.
- Open its Manage video / YouTube panel in the episode editor.
- On the Upload tab, upload your video file the same way you upload any video today.
- That's it. If your show has video streaming, conversion starts on its own the moment the upload finishes.
The Stream tab shows the video's status and a live progress bar while it's being prepared. When it's finished, you'll see a the embed snippet you can copy to place the player on your own website.
The Springcast video player is automatically added to the episode on your podcast website.
Accepted files
- Formats: all common video formats work - MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV, AVI, and more. Most files exported from editing software or a phone will upload without any conversion on your side.
- Maximum size: 20 GB per file.
- Maximum length: 6 hours per file.
If a file can't be processed (for example, an unusual codec), the status shows Failed. Re-export the video as a standard MP4 (H.264 video + AAC audio) and upload it again.
What happens after you upload
Once the upload lands, Springcast works through a few automatic steps. You don't need to do anything during this - you can leave the page and come back later.
- Inspecting. We read the file to learn its resolution, length, and format, and decide which quality levels to produce.
- Converting. We create the adaptive stream. Video streaming produces up to four quality levels - 360p, 720p, 1080p, and 1440p - depending on your source. We never upscale: if you upload a 720p file, we produce 360p and 720p only, not blurry "1080p". A 4K source is fully supported and is streamed at up to 1440p.
- Finishing. We bundle the quality levels together, mark the video Ready, and make it available to your player and website automatically.
The whole process usually takes a while proportional to the length of the video. Longer videos take longer to convert. The progress bar on the Video page reflects live progress while conversion is running.
Statuses you may see
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Processing | Your video is being inspected and converted. A progress bar shows how far along it is. |
| Ready | Conversion is complete. The video is streaming in your player and available for your website. |
| Failed | The file couldn't be processed. Re-export as a standard MP4 and upload again. |
Replacing a video
If you upload a new video to an episode that already has one, Springcast converts the new file in the background and only swaps it in once it's completely ready. Your embed link stays the same throughout, and viewers never see a broken or half-finished video during the switch.
What statistics we gather
Video streaming reports on playback in two complementary ways. Both appear in the Video section of your statistics.
1. Views - "how many people watched this episode?"
This is the headline number: how many unique viewers watched the episode's video. It's counted much like your audio download numbers - one viewer is counted once per episode per day, so a viewer who opens the same episode twice in an afternoon still counts as one. This gives you a stable, comparable audience figure over time.
2. Engagement - "how did they watch?"
Beyond the raw count, the player reports on how people actually watch, so you can see:
- Plays started - how many viewers pressed play.
- Watch time - total minutes watched, and the average view duration per session.
- Drop-off - where in the video viewers tend to stop watching, so you can see whether people make it to the end.
- Playback actions - pause, seek (skipping forward or back), mute and unmute, switching to full screen, and quality changes.
- Completion - how many viewers watched through to the end.
If you also push the episode to YouTube, its views and watch time appear alongside your Springcast numbers in the same overview, so you can compare the two at a glance.
Together these answer two different questions: how big was the audience (Views) and how engaged were they (Engagement).
A few things worth knowing about the numbers:
- Viewers, not people. A viewer is identified per browser and device. Someone who watches on their phone and again on their laptop counts as two viewers. Treat the numbers as a reliable trend, not a headcount of specific individuals.
- Yesterday's numbers are the final ones. Playback data is totaled up overnight, so today's figures are still settling. If a number looks lower than you expect mid-afternoon, check again tomorrow morning.
- Audio stays separate. Video statistics live in their own section and never mix into your audio download numbers. Adding video to a show doesn't inflate or distort its existing podcast stats.
Good to know
- No player setup. You don't embed a third-party video player or paste in any keys. The Springcast player handles video and audio the same way.
- Your source file is untouched. Streaming is produced alongside your original upload. If you also push the episode to YouTube, YouTube keeps receiving your original file unchanged.
- One upload, every screen. You never choose a resolution - the viewer's device and connection choose it for them, automatically, moment to moment.
Common questions
- "Do I need to pick a quality?" No. Upload one file; the player picks the right quality for each viewer automatically.
- "My video says Failed - what now?" Re-export it as a standard MP4 (H.264 video, AAC audio) and upload again. That resolves almost all failures.
- "I replaced the video but the old one still shows." The new version plays as soon as it finishes converting. Until then, the previous version keeps playing so there's never a gap. Give it a moment and refresh.
- "Why is my view count lower than my YouTube views?" They measure different audiences - this number counts people watching through your Springcast player and website, not on YouTube.