How to Create an Episode on Flightcast

Step 1: Start a New Episode

Click Create a new episode in the top left corner, then select Blank Episode.

Step 2: Add Your Title and Description

Enter your episode title and description in the corresponding fields. If you want clickable links in your description, just type out the full URL (e.g., google.com) and hit space — it will turn purple and automatically become a hyperlink.

Step 3: Add Chapters

Add chapters individually by specifying a timestamp and label. For example:

• 0:00 — Intro
• 1:23 — Something Cool

If you want these chapters to appear inside your description, click the small book icon labeled Insert Chapter Placeholders. This inserts a marker you can drag to any position in the description, and when published, it will be replaced with your formatted chapter list.

Step 4: Upload Your Episode Video

Drag or upload your video file into the Episode Video field. This is required — you must always provide a video here. By default, this video will be published to both YouTube and Spotify, and Flightcast will automatically extract the audio track from it. That extracted audio is what gets distributed to audio-only platforms like Apple Podcasts and other RSS-based apps.

Step 5: Add a Thumbnail

Drop a thumbnail image into the thumbnail area. This image will be used on both YouTube and Spotify.

If you want to A/B test thumbnails, wait until the episode has been scheduled to YouTube, then add the A/B test directly in YouTube Studio.

Step 6: Platform-Specific Video Overrides (Optional)

There are two override fields that let you upload different video files for YouTube and Spotify individually — for example, one thumbnail that says "Subscribe" for YouTube and another that says "Follow" for Spotify. Most of the time (99% of cases), you should just use the default Episode Video and skip these.

Step 7: Custom Audio (Optional)

By default, Flightcast extracts the audio directly from your uploaded video. If you'd rather use a separate audio file, toggle off Use audio track and upload your own MP3. That MP3 will then be the version sent to Apple Podcasts and all other audio platforms instead of the auto-generated one.

Step 8: Upload Square Cover Art (Optional)

You can upload a square cover image for audio platforms. This is the artwork that listeners will see on Apple Podcasts, Spotify (for the audio version), and similar apps.

Step 9: Custom Audio Title and Description (Optional)

Toggle on Custom audio details if you want a different title or description for audio platforms. Podcasters often use this to add an episode number or tweak the wording for an audio-only audience.

In the audio description, you can also create hyperlinked text — select a word, attach a URL to it, and platforms like Spotify and Apple will render it as a clickable link. (This isn't possible for YouTube video descriptions, which only support bare URLs typed out in full.)

You can also add separate chapters for the audio version if the timing differs from the video.

Step 10: Fill In Metadata (Optional)

Optionally fill out season number, episode number, and keywords (which also populate YouTube tags). You can also mark the episode as explicit if applicable.

Step 11: Auto-Save and Transcription

The entire page auto-saves while your episode is in draft status (auto-save stops once the episode is scheduled). As soon as you upload your video, Flightcast begins generating a transcript, which you can view in the Transcript tab.

Step 12: AI-Generated Title, Description, and Chapters

Once the transcript is complete, three AI buttons become available: Generate a title, Generate a description, and Generate chapters. The title generator produces ten options trained on your previous titles. You can tab through them on the right side, pick one you like, and click Accept — it saves to your draft automatically.

Step 13: Go to the Publish Page

Click Go to publish page at the bottom of the editor, or click the Publish tab at the top.

Step 14: Choose Your Platforms

You must individually toggle on each platform you want to publish to. The three options are:

• RSS — audio platforms (Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts, Overcast, etc.)
• YouTube — publishes the video
• Spotify — publishes to Spotify

If none are toggled on, you won't be able to publish.

Step 15: Set Your Schedule

Pick a date and time at the top. By default, all platforms share one date, but you can customize the schedule per platform. For example, you could release audio via RSS at 2:00 AM, Spotify at 4:00 AM, and YouTube a month later — it's entirely flexible.

Step 16: Select YouTube Playlists and Categories

If publishing to YouTube, choose which playlists the episode should be added to and select a category (e.g., Entertainment). The category matters for discoverability, so don't skip it.

Step 17: Set Up Ad Slots (Optional)

If you're running ads, go to the ads section and configure your slots:

• Pre-roll — ads that play before the audio starts
• Post-roll — ads that play after the audio ends
• Mid-roll — ads inserted at a specific timestamp (e.g., at 22 minutes)

For each slot, choose between Dynamic (your own ads) or Programmatic (Flightcast-served ads that pay per play). Set the maximum number of ads per slot. All ad slots are audio-only and are not synced to YouTube.

Step 18: Preview and Confirm

When you click Schedule Episode, a preview screen appears showing exactly what will be published on each platform — the thumbnail, video, title, cover art, and chapters. You can expand this preview to full screen for a closer look. Once satisfied, click Confirm and Publish to schedule everything.

Step 19: Monitor Upload Status

After scheduling, the Episodes table shows the status of each platform using color codes:

• Flashing/yellow — currently uploading
• Orange — successfully scheduled
• Green — all good, live or complete

Hover over the status indicators to see the scheduled dates for each platform.

Step 20: Making Changes After Scheduling

If you edit an episode after it's been scheduled, the page will show an Unpublished changes banner. Auto-save is disabled at this point, and the app will warn you if you try to navigate away with unsaved edits. When ready, click Publish, review a preview showing exactly what changed (e.g., "Title is changing"), and click Apply Changes to push updates to the relevant platforms.

Step 21: Spotify-Specific Options

Under the Spotify settings, you have a few extra options:

• Use audio details — makes Spotify use your audio-only title and description instead of the video versions (useful if your YouTube title is more clickbait-oriented)
• Only publish audio — sends just the audio track to Spotify instead of the video

Final Tip

The most common mistake is forgetting to toggle on each platform before scheduling. Make sure RSS, YouTube, and Spotify are all switched on if you want your episode everywhere. If you run into any issues, click the support button in the bottom left corner of Flightcast to reach the team directly.

Updated on: 11/04/2026