Podcast listeners cannot reliably skip embedded sponsor segments
Podcast listeners want to skip ads embedded in episodes, even when they pay for an ad-free streaming subscription; some also want to skip recurring introductory patter. The evidence describes podcast apps lacking SponsorBlock-style controls, while the Apple TV signal shows a related but harder-to-serve gap for video viewers. A standalone podcast player could address most of these requests, though it would not automatically solve Apple TV support.
For podcast listeners who want control over embedded segments. Mentioned from Nov 2023 to Sep 2026 on Bluesky and Hacker News.
4 different people described this problem in 4 separate discussions.
- Indie fit
- 3.0/10
- Pain
- 5.5/10
- Frequency
- 5.8/10
- Willingness to pay
- 7.1/10
- Momentum
- 5.6/10
- Who pays
- Consumers
- Competition
- Medium
- Build difficulty
- Medium
What people said
Quoted word for word. Follow a link to read the whole discussion.
I pay for Spotify so I don't get ads (and so I can actually listen to the podcasts), but now podcasters embed ads into the podcasts themselves, and I can't pay them to remove them. I would pay for this or a SponsorBlock-type plugin
i have a wishlist feature that i would gladly pay for. i want a sponsor block like youtube’s but for podcasts
Build brief
See what to build and who will buy it
- 1 product idea with the smallest useful version and pricing
- 3 places to find your first customers
- 2 more quotes from people who have this problem
- Current workarounds, existing solutions and risks