I mostly consume podcasts (or any other content when available) via Youtube (free version). I generally don't mind ads at the beginning as long as they aren't excessively long. What I find most annoying is a podcast being interrupted by a Youtube native ad followed by a direct sponsor spot. So, for channels I'm not familiar with, I'll just skip sponsor spots impulsively. If it's a channel i know is likely to also subject me to Youtube native ads, I'll most likely skip any sponsor spots guilt free. For the rest, as long as the sponsor spots on a channel are consistently reasonably short (and few), I'll likely put up with them - especially at the beginning.

PS. If there's a way to block Youtube native ads on my AppleTV, I haven't been motivated enough to figure out how, yet. It is what it is. 🤷