Lao Luo's new program on Bilibili may really have found the secret to attracting traffic.

Yesterday, Luo Yonghao updated a video podcast episode on Bilibili. The theme was a conversation with Li Xiang, the founder of Li Auto.

In this video episode, Luo Yonghao dared to ask anything, and Li Xiang dared to say anything.

They talked about childhood.

Luo Yonghao: "It all sounds so lucky. Tell me about your childhood traumas. What traumas did you have before you were 18?"

Li Xiang: "When I first returned to Shijiazhuang, all the kids in the neighborhood bullied me." "Moreover, all the kids bullied me. Many of the scars on my face today were scratched by them when I was in primary school."

They discussed financing.

Li Xiang said that Wang Xing was the biggest benefactor in his entire entrepreneurial history.

During the Series B financing of Li Auto, Wang Xing approached many people to invest, but Li Auto declined. When Li Auto was in a desperate situation, Wang Xing reached out to help despite the opposition of countless people.

It even made Li Xiang's eyes red.

This program lasted for a full four hours. However, the sincere confessions of these two prominent figures made many netizens not only finish watching but also feel unsatisfied.

In an era when most content relies on a twist every three seconds to attract viewers, this kind of long - and - substantial "super - sized" content is truly rare.

Not only is it "super - sized", but the content is also of high quality, which directly pushed Luo Yonghao to the top rankings on the entire platform.

However, Luo Yonghao said that this is just the beginning. He will also invite big names from all walks of life in the future. The next guest will be He Xiaopeng, the founder of XPeng Motors.

At first, I just thought, hey, this job suits the sharp - tongued Luo Yonghao, and it seems quite costly!

But then I thought, hey? Why does it seem like everyone is doing this video podcast?

It's understandable for audio platforms like Himalaya to do video podcasts, but now Xiaohongshu and Bilibili are also "jumping on the bandwagon".

Take Bilibili as an example. Last month, it launched the "Video Podcast Breakout Plan" to specifically support video podcasts. Luo Yonghao, Lu Yu, and Yu Qian have all flocked to join.

Judging from this effort, it seems very likely that video podcasts will be Bilibili's next major focus.

Suddenly, has video podcast become the new hot trend?

As the name suggests, a video podcast is a podcast with visuals. The main logic is still that of a podcast.

Just in case some of you are not familiar with podcasts, let me explain a bit.

Podcasts are a type of audio program. The content ranges from science fiction and popular science, natural science, daily trivia to sharing of thoughts. The main feature is a high information density, a bit like cross - talk. You just need a mouth to start, so people who are good at speaking are particularly suitable for this form. In recent years, many stand - up comedians have entered the podcast field.

Podcasts rely on audio output. The main feature is a high information density, and they can free your eyes and hands. You can acquire knowledge while driving or cooking in an accompanying way, which is why they are very popular.

Since audio is an advantage, why add visuals and increase the cost?

Actually, the video - based podcast is not something new. It has already become the mainstream trend.

In the United States, where the podcast industry is the most developed, almost all top - tier podcasts also record video programs.

For example, "The Joe Rogan Experience". This podcast has invited Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Kanye West, and even had a conversation with Donald Trump before the election.

It all started in front of a simple and messy table. Two people just sat casually in the studio, put on their headphones, set up the camera, and started chatting.

The same goes for "The Diary of a CEO", a podcast in the business and personal growth field.

It has had conversations with Harvard neuroscience experts, psychiatrists, and also discussed the power of inner peace and concentration with Shaolin masters.

Although the setting may seem simple, in fact, it has all the necessary elements. There is no shortage of backdrops and lighting, and it is already very much like a formal talk show.

Let's put aside professional podcast programs for now. Take the NBA for example.

Yes, the NBA where they play basketball. Each player seems to have their own video podcast.

They don't even play basketball every day. A few tall players just sit on the sofa, turn on the microphone, and start reminiscing and chatting.

@Houchangcun Sports Team once counted that from July 7, 2024, when Paul George officially announced his joining the 76ers to February 24, 2025, George had 291 podcast videos, while his goal number in the season was only 219.

After seeing these, when we look at the situation in China, doesn't it seem like we are a bit late to the party rather than catching a new trend?

It is actually inevitable for podcasts to embrace video - based content.

Because the mainstream form of Internet communication nowadays is video. Although single - audio and single - graphic content can be of high quality, their spread has already reached the ceiling. Now, simply adding visuals can break through the spread limit.

Actually, Cheng Yanliang, the host of the well - known podcast "Hu Zuo Hu You", explained this quite clearly.

"Kanye fell asleep during a podcast in the United States. Many people on TikTok were sharing that video. That short video may have received tens of thousands of likes in China, but no one knew what was going on."

"This is the characteristic of podcasts adapting to different media. Spreading to a certain extent and letting podcast content reach more people is what we want."

Let's take the conversation between Luo Yonghao and Li Xiang as an example.

If it were just audio, it would probably be on Himalaya, or maybe on music platforms like QQ Music.

After adding visuals, there are more ways to play. The long - form video can be uploaded to Bilibili. The long - form video can be cut into short clips and posted on Douyin. Screenshots of the explosive quotes in the video can be posted on Xiaohongshu and Weibo. One production can be used across multiple platforms.

Among them, there is one key point: short - video slicing.

This has already been proven to be a traffic - attracting method in many fields. From the live - streaming slicing matrix for e - commerce by Xiao Yangge, to the cultural snippets of Dong Yuhui selling rice while giving lessons, to Luo Xiang cutting his boring law lectures into popular legal - education segments across the Internet.

One main piece of content can be cut into a hundred pieces. If one piece goes viral, it can attract traffic.

It's a bit like the clone trick of Sun Wukong. Blow on a handful of monkey hairs, and countless clones will occupy the Internet.

Not only can you post them yourself, but many bloggers will also spontaneously spread them, and finally redirect the traffic back to your channel.

Yes, many people who originally didn't notice the program will come to the channel where they can listen to the full program from these "off - site" platforms.

At the same time, the form of video - based podcasts is very flexible in terms of cost...

Take our account, "Cha Ping Hardware Department", as an example. This account mainly focuses on shooting, and the update frequency is basically once every three days. Each episode requires 2 - 3 people in the post - production team. If special effects are needed, the manpower and time required for post - production will further increase.

For video podcasts, simply pasting a picture can also make an episode. For example, @Ju Bu Guan Cha has released multiple video podcast episodes in the mode of still pictures + audio.

It can be seen that when the content is good enough, the playback volume can still be quite high.

A bit more complex, like @Zhi An Ju, mainly focuses on on - site shooting and editing. They find a place with a nice background, several guests sit down, and have a lively chat around a topic. That can also make an episode.

Of course, those with more resources can develop in the direction of Luo Yonghao's form, with a dedicated studio, backdrops, and lighting.

The lower limit is a living room at home, and the upper limit is a studio.

For many small podcast hosts, this is a very good low - cost promotion model, and it also provides room for growth for big podcast hosts. It gives great flexibility to content creation.

It is also a good deal for video platforms.

Let's first look at the leading video platform. In February this year, YouTube announced that the monthly active audience of podcast content on the platform exceeded 1 billion, a number far exceeding that of vertical audio giants.

These podcast users are of high value. According to the "2024 Podcast Industry Report" jointly released by the leading podcast institution "Ritan Park" and Himalaya, etc., the key audience of podcasts are high - income people with a monthly salary of over 20,000 yuan and corporate managers.

These people generally have a high level of education, strong consumption ability, and a higher degree of dependence on podcasts. They also subscribe to and regularly listen to more programs than other groups.

In the past, these users have not been well commercialized because the means of monetizing audio content are limited. At present, podcasts mainly rely on paid programs and soft - advertising insertions. Most podcast programs still find it difficult to make a profit, and even those that are profitable have relatively limited