How Podcast Distribution Is Changing | Alban Brooke, Buzzsprout #681

August 15, 2026 ~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

In Episode 681 of the New Media Show, host Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee welcomes Alban Brooke, Head of Marketing at Buzzsprout, for a deep conversation about one of the biggest structural changes in podcasting: the evolution of podcast hosting from audio-file distribution to a broader audio-and-video creator infrastructure.

For most of podcasting’s history, the hosting model was relatively straightforward. A creator uploaded an audio file, the host generated an RSS feed, and that feed distributed the episode to listening apps worldwide.

That podcast hosting model is changing.

Video is once again becoming a significant part of podcasting, and podcast hosting platforms are being asked to do much more than store an MP3 and maintain an RSS feed. They increasingly need to manage video encoding, HLS streaming, direct platform connections, YouTube publishing, Spotify video, Apple Podcasts video, transcripts, analytics, AI-assisted publishing tools, and the traditional audio experience simultaneously.

Buzzsprout, which launched in 2009 as an audio-only podcast host, has now made a major move into video. Alban explains that the turning point was Apple’s decision to support HLS video streaming into Apple Podcasts.

Once Apple committed to HLS, Buzzsprout saw an opportunity to preserve one of podcast hosting’s original promises:

“Upload once and let the hosting platform handle the complexity of getting the show everywhere.”

Buzzsprout’s current video workflow allows creators to upload video and distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube while continuing to deliver audio to traditional podcast apps.

The technology underneath that process, however, has become much more complicated.

A podcast host may now be managing RSS feeds, HLS playlists, multiple video resolutions, platform APIs, direct uploads, audio extraction, transcripts, and the different requirements of Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, iHeart, and other services.

Alban argues that creators should not have to understand most of that.
If podcast hosting is doing its job properly, the technical complexity should disappear into the infrastructure. Creators should be able to concentrate on making the show.

That leads Rob and Alban into a larger discussion about RSS and what it still represents.

RSS itself is not magical, Alban says. What matters is what RSS enables: a direct and portable connection between creators and their audiences. A creator using an open podcast feed can switch from one hosting company to another without rebuilding their audience from scratch. The relationship is not entirely controlled by a recommendation algorithm or a single platform. Alban contrasts this with YouTube and other social platforms, where algorithms ultimately determine how much of a creator’s content reaches subscribers.

A creator can build a large audience on a platform and still experience dramatic changes in reach when the algorithm, product strategy, or monetization model changes.

Podcasting offers something different.

Alban describes media distribution as a spectrum ranging from discovery to delivery. At one end are platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, which are extremely effective at helping users discover content. The platform decides what it believes each person wants to see next.

At the other end are systems such as RSS and email, where the user intentionally subscribes and expects to receive what that creator publishes.

The opportunity for modern creators may be to use both.

YouTube, social video platforms, and algorithmic platforms can enable discovery. RSS can provide reliable delivery and audience portability after that relationship is established.

That combination may become one of podcasting’s greatest advantages.

HLS, RSS and the Future of more Open Video Podcasting

Rob and Alban explore how HLS video could extend those same open-distribution principles into video.

Apple’s implementation currently involves a direct API relationship, but the podcast ecosystem is also experimenting with the alternate enclosure tag in RSS, which can place another media format inside the RSS feed.

Buzzsprout has already experimented with alternate enclosures on selected shows, although Alban explains that the company is approaching broader implementation carefully because video creates dramatically larger bandwidth demands than audio.

A bot downloading thousands of MP3 files is one problem. A bot repeatedly requesting multi-gigabyte video assets is another larger issue.

The larger objective, however, remains open distribution.

Alban believes HLS has the potential to enable multiple podcast applications to support video without forcing creators to confine their entire video audience to a single closed platform.

Can Video Damage the Audio Experience?

The conversation then turns to one of the most important creative questions raised by video podcasting. What happens to audio listeners when the video version becomes the source for both experiences?

Alban shares an example of watching a video podcast on Netflix where George Clooney and the host repeatedly discussed an object visible on camera without ever explaining what it was.

A viewer understood the conversation. An audio listener would have had no idea what they were discussing. That is exactly the kind of problem Alban wants creators to avoid.

His recommendation is that podcasts remain audio-first in their communication, even when video is an important part of the production.

That does not mean ignoring video.

Creators can use cameras, sets, graphics, demonstrations, lighting, and other visual elements. But when something important is happening on screen, the host should provide enough verbal context that the audio listener can still follow the conversation.

Rob raises the other side of the issue.

There is a real difference between producing a video podcast and producing a highly visual YouTube show.

YouTube creators may use graphics, demonstrations, rapid editing, screen captures, text, and visual storytelling that cannot realistically be translated into audio. If every visual element must work perfectly for someone with their eyes closed, video creativity can become constrained.

That may eventually create two related but distinct production approaches: shows built as unified audio/video podcasts and shows designed primarily as visual media.

Why Platforms Want Video

Alban believes the major platforms have obvious reasons for encouraging video. Video keeps audiences looking at the screen.

YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms benefit when users remain inside their applications, continually moving from one piece of content to the next.

Short-form vertical video takes this even further.

Alban says he deliberately limits his own use of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels because he finds the experience almost too effective at holding attention.

Audio works differently.

A podcast can accompany the listener while running, driving, traveling, cleaning, mowing the lawn, or simply living life.

Alban describes audio as a companion to life, while highly addictive video shorts platforms will increasingly compete to become the dominant activity itself.

We should remain strongly optimistic about audio.

Why Apple’s Move Changed the Market

Rob asks why Apple chose this moment to place renewed emphasis on video, even though video podcasts have technically existed within Apple’s ecosystem for many years.

Alban points to several forces coming together. YouTube has aggressively embraced podcasts and repeatedly highlighted the enormous amount of podcast viewing happening across its platform.

Spotify has expanded its video strategy.

Meanwhile, members of the open podcasting community have spent years exploring HLS as a more practical way of distributing video.

Once Apple embraced HLS, Buzzsprout concluded that the technology had enough platform support to justify a major investment.

Buzzsprout then built its video product around simplifying distribution across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and traditional audio apps.

Why 1080p Video Matters

Buzzsprout also decided to support 1080p video, something Rob sees as increasingly important as podcasts move from phones and laptops onto large television screens. HLS can provide different video streams depending on the device and connection.

A mobile device (phone, pad, or glasses) may not need the same resolution as a large television or large-screen laptop or desktop computer.

But as Apple Podcasts expands onto Apple TV and YouTube continues to report substantial podcast consumption on television screens, creators need source video that looks good in the living room.

Rob and Alban agree that this is another sign that podcast distribution is becoming much broader than that of traditional listening apps.

Audio Is Not Going Away

Despite Buzzsprout’s investment in video, Alban does not believe every podcast needs cameras. Some content is inherently better as audio. Scripted audio, documentary storytelling, intimate conversations, educational programming, and many other formats can deliver everything the audience needs without video.

Alban does not believe audio needs a technological gimmick to survive.
Spatial audio, immersive sound, and advanced codecs can create interesting experiences, but the central power of podcasting remains remarkably simple:

“The human voice and a compelling story.”

Good audio recorded decades ago can still be powerful today because the idea, voice, and storytelling remain meaningful.

Video is therefore additive rather than a replacement for audio.

Is Podcast Hosting Becoming a Commodity?

Rob then challenges Alban with another industry question:

Simply storing a media file is no longer difficult. Most hosting platforms can generate RSS feeds, distribute episodes, and provide common publishing features.

Alban agrees that hosting, narrowly defined as file storage, can look commoditized. But he argues that this misses the bigger job a podcast-hosting company should perform.

Buzzsprout sees its role as helping creators successfully navigate the entire process.

That includes technology, education, human support, distribution, publishing assistance, video, analytics, transcripts, and reducing the emotional and technical friction involved in putting something meaningful into the world. The competitive advantage is not simply storing the file. It is helping the creator succeed.

AI Should Remove Work, Not the Human

That philosophy carries directly into the episode’s discussion about artificial intelligence.

Buzzsprout already uses AI to help creators generate titles, descriptions, social content, blog material, chapter markers, and transcripts. Alban is comfortable with AI handling parts of production that creators may not enjoy. Buzzsprout’s own materials identify its Co-Host AI tools as assisting with publishing tasks, including titles, descriptions, chapters, and supporting content.

What he does not want AI to replace is the reason many people became creators in the first place.

Alban enjoys researching an idea, thinking about it, writing, talking with people, recording conversations, and producing something that reflects human experience.

If AI can clean audio, transcribe the episode, or reduce repetitive production work, that can be useful.

If it replaces the host, opinion, conversation, or creative process entirely, something important may be lost. Alban compares his preferred relationship with AI to using a calculator.

The technology is valuable. Yet, blindly refusing to use it entirely could be unnecessarily limiting. But just because a technology can perform a task does not mean the creator should hand over every task.

The important question is:

“Which parts of creating matter to you enough that you want to remain the person doing them?”

AI, Disclosure and Audience Trust

The deeper issue is trust.

Alban describes hearing what he believed was an AI-generated host-read advertisement in a podcast he regularly listened to. When he later asked the creator about AI and received a categorical denial of using it, Alban’s confidence in the show changed.

The problem was not simply that AI may have been used. The problem was the perception that the creator was not being transparent about it.

Rob and Alban agree that disclosure becomes increasingly important as synthetic voices, AI-written scripts, avatars, automated media, and cloned personalities become harder to distinguish from human-created content.

“Rob suggests that the industry may eventually move beyond labeling AI toward verifying or certifying what is human.”

As synthetic AI-generated audio and video content becomes more common, audiences may increasingly value signals showing that a conversation, performance, appearance, or relationship involves real humans.

That could increase the importance of live events, face-to-face meetings, physical communities, concerts, coffee shops, and other experiences where human presence is difficult to fake.

The Return of Offline Experiences

The episode broadens into a discussion about younger generations and technology.

Alban notes that some younger people are becoming interested in non-connected devices, point-and-shoot cameras, film cameras, books, and other technologies that do not constantly demand attention.

Rob sees similar interest developing around discontinued devices such as the Microsoft Zune portable media player devices.

The larger trend may represent a reaction to always-connected life.

Technology gives creators unprecedented reach, but human relationships still develop through attention, responsiveness, shared experiences, and time spent together.

That principle also connects back to podcasting.

Podcasting’s open architecture allows content to flow across applications and devices while maintaining a direct creator-to-audience relationship.

As Alban sees it, the strongest future for podcasting combines the best of both worlds:

“Open delivery through podcasting, algorithmic discovery through larger platforms, video when it adds value, audio when audio is enough, AI where it removes friction, and humans at the center of the creative relationship.”

Topics Covered in This Episode
– Why Buzzsprout moved from audio-only into video podcasting
– Apple HLS video and the turning point for podcast hosts
– Upload-once distribution across Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and audio apps
– Why technical complexity should disappear for creators
– RSS as creator ownership and audience portability
– Discovery versus reliable delivery
– Algorithms compared with open podcast distribution
– Alternate enclosures and open video
– Protecting audio listeners when video is added
– Unified audio/video podcast experiences
– Video podcasts versus highly visual YouTube productions
– Why platforms want creators producing more video
– Short-form video and attention
– Why audio remains a companion medium
– 1080p video and television podcast consumption
– Why audio-only podcasting remains healthy
– Is podcast hosting becoming a commodity?
– Buzzsprout’s creator-support philosophy
– AI-assisted podcast production
– Which parts of creation should remain human
– AI voices, disclosure, and audience trust
– The possibility of verified-human media
– Younger generations and offline technology
– The renewed appeal of disconnected devices
– Open podcasting in the Liquid Content Era

Chapter Timestamp Markers
00:00 Welcome to The New Media Show Episode 681
00:24 Podcast hosting is moving beyond the audio file
01:18 Buzzsprout enters the video podcast era
02:00 Introducing Alban Brooke of Buzzsprout
03:15 What changed Buzzsprout’s thinking about video?
04:01 Why Buzzsprout spent years focused on audio only
04:50 Apple HLS video becomes the turning point
05:33 Upload once and distribute video and audio everywhere
06:00 Podcast distribution becomes technically more complicated
07:00 Why the hosting platform should hide the complexity
09:21 Podcasters increasingly do not know what RSS is
10:53 Why RSS still matters
11:08 RSS, creator control, and platform algorithm risk
13:08 The difference between podcast delivery and discovery
14:35 Using YouTube for discovery and RSS for audience delivery
15:37 HLS brings open distribution principles to video
16:49 Alternative enclosures and open video podcasting
17:18 The bandwidth and bot problem with video
18:04 Rob’s dual audio and video RSS strategy
19:20 The tension between MP4 video and HLS
20:15 What happens when video becomes the source of the audio?
20:52 The Netflix example of a broken audio experience
22:01 Why adding video can unintentionally hurt audio listeners
22:50 Alban’s case for audio-first communication
23:52 Why unified audio, video, and transcripts need to stay in sync
25:04 Video podcasts versus YouTube-first visual shows
26:15 Why platforms keep pushing creators toward video
27:15 The addictive power of short-form vertical video
28:32 Audio as a companion to real life
29:20 Why Apple chose this moment to emphasize video
30:34 The podcast industry’s push toward HLS
31:03 YouTube and Spotify increase competitive pressure
32:00 Why Apple’s HLS implementation changed Buzzsprout’s plans
33:23 Buzzsprout goes all-in on simplified video distribution
34:03 Why Buzzsprout chose 1080p
35:04 Podcast consumption moves onto television screens
35:41 How HLS adapts video quality to different devices
37:09 Apple TV and the big-screen podcast opportunity
38:43 Could HLS eventually replace audio delivery?
39:16 Why Alban believes audio-only podcasting remains strong
40:35 Video audiences can be additive rather than replacements
41:14 Could audio become more immersive?
42:02 Spatial audio and the history of immersive sound
43:03 Why the human voice matters more than audio technology
44:02 Does audio even need to compete with video?
45:33 Video is additive, not the death of audio
46:51 Is podcast hosting becoming a commodity?
48:00 Hosting versus full creator infrastructure
49:03 Removing technical and emotional barriers for creators
50:14 Why human support still differentiates podcast platforms
51:17 Where AI fits into podcast hosting
52:00 Buzzsprout Co-Host AI and production assistance
52:33 Using AI for tasks creators do not enjoy
53:32 Protect the parts of creating you actually love
54:28 Rob’s use of AI in pre-production and post-production
55:04 Why flowing human conversations resist scripting
55:43 The value of unscripted New Media Show conversations
56:27 AI is already capable of strong writing
57:06 Why the act of creation still matters
58:47 Creator attitudes toward AI become increasingly divided
1:00:44 Using AI like a calculator
1:02:09 AI-generated host reads and the trust problem
1:03:27 Why undisclosed AI can damage audience relationships
1:04:26 AI use versus dishonesty about AI use
1:05:17 Will we eventually label human-created content instead of AI-generated content?
1:06:19 Why real-world human experiences may become more valuable
1:07:38 Could “Certified Human” become a media signal?
1:08:20 AI avatars, recruiting fraud, and human verification
1:09:21 Trust can take years to build and minutes to destroy
1:10:35 Finding the middle ground on AI
1:11:07 Where AI saves time without replacing the creator
1:12:08 Preserve the human parts that matter
1:13:03 Generational differences around technology and AI
1:14:11 Gen Alpha, point-and-shoot cameras, and rejecting connectivity
1:15:01 Designing intentional distance from addictive media
1:16:18 The unexpected return of the Microsoft Zune
1:17:12 Books, film cameras, and disconnected technology
1:18:19 Human relationships existed before social platforms
1:19:01 Alban’s relationship with social media
1:20:17 Why offline relationships can matter more
1:21:19 Media creation becomes increasingly fragmented
1:22:00 Podcasting as truly liquid and open content
1:22:34 Closing thoughts with Alban Brooke
1:23:00 Where to find The New Media Show

Guest Links: Alban Brooke, Head of Marketing, Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com
Buzzsprout Video Podcasting: https://www.buzzsprout.com/features
Buzzcast: https://buzzcast.buzzsprout.com
Alban Brooke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albanbrooke
Alban Brooke is Head of Marketing at Buzzsprout and co-host of Buzzcast, where he discusses podcast technology, creator trends, industry developments, and practical strategies for podcasters.

Host, Rob Greenlee, and New Media Show Links

New Media Show: https://newmediashow.com
New Media Show on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow
New Media Show Audio on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
Rob Greenlee Website: https://robgreenlee.com
Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee
Rob Greenlee on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@RobGreenlee
Podcast Hall of Fame: https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure Note
AI tools were used to create a video and audio introduction clip, episode images, help organize and edit this episode and summarize its description, and create chapter markers from the completed Episode 681 transcript. The recorded conversation, human performances, guest perspectives, editorial direction, final review, and responsibility for the published content remain with actual humans, Rob Greenlee and Alban Brooke.

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Liquid Content Era Needs New Measurement | Steven Goldstein, Amplifi Media #680

August 10, 2026August 10, 2026 ~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

New Media Show with Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee and Guest Steven Goldstein, Founder and CEO, Amplifi Media In Episode 680 of the New Media Show, host Rob Greenlee welcomes Steven Goldstein, founder and CEO of Amplifi Media, for a timely, future-leaning discussion.

We have entered the Liquid Content Era.

A podcast conversation can now become an audio episode, full-length YouTube video, Spotify video, Apple Podcasts video, vertical clips, social posts, articles, newsletters, searchable transcripts, and potentially AI-discovered answers. The underlying content may be the same, but the way people encounter and consume it varies by platform.

That creates an enormous opportunity for creators. It also creates a measurement problem.

Podcasting built much of its advertising business around the download. That metric helped turn an emerging medium into a legitimate advertising marketplace, but Steven argues that it no longer adequately represents how audiences consume modern shows.

Downloads were created in an era when bandwidth was limited and podcast applications often downloaded episodes to devices before the listener played them. Today, streaming is increasingly immediate, video consumption is growing, audiences move between devices, and clips can sometimes reach more people than the original episode.

The question is no longer simply: How many times was the podcast downloaded?

The better question may be: How many people actually listened to, watched, encountered the advertising, and engaged with the creator’s content across the entire media ecosystem?

Why advertisers need this change.

Large brands already buy television, web, streaming video, social, and other digital media through dashboards that provide comparable impression-based reporting. Podcasting remains fragmented across RSS analytics, platform dashboards, YouTube views, Spotify data, and different definitions of what constitutes meaningful exposure.

That fragmentation makes podcast media harder to buy at scale.

Steven explains that advertisers do not want separate teams manually reconciling podcast audio, video, clips, and platform metrics.

If podcasting wants to attract substantially more advertising investment, it needs to fit more easily into the systems marketers already use.

That leads into one of the episode’s central topics: the AMP Accords.

The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting was formed to address three persistent problems:

Defining a podcast
Standardizing exposure metrics across platforms
Creating a more consistent way to evaluate advertising effectiveness.

The AMP Accords describe their goal as establishing cross-platform measurement standards spanning open RSS and closed platforms.

One of the biggest proposed shifts is moving toward a 30-second play as a standardized exposure metric across audio and video.

Steven is less concerned about whether 30 seconds ultimately proves to be the perfect number than he is about establishing a common starting point.

Media measurement has always evolved.

Steven draws on his experience in radio, where audience measurement moved from handwritten listening diaries to electronic Portable People Meters. The change was disruptive. Some formats gained audience under the new methodology, and others lost it. But advertisers demanded better information, and the industry eventually adapted.

Podcasting is facing a similar moment.

The industry should not allow the pursuit of a perfect measurement system to delay the adoption of a more useful one.

The AMP framework also addresses advertising impressions and audience measurement. That matters because an advertiser ultimately wants to know whether someone actually received an advertising message, not simply whether a media file was automatically delivered to a device.

Rob and Steven discuss the tension this creates for established podcast measurement.

Some publishers remain strongly committed to the download because it has provided consistency and an open measurement methodology for many years. Steven gives the download credit for helping build the podcast advertising business but believes the medium now needs to move forward.

The shift becomes even more important when video enters the equation.

YouTube has become a major podcast-consumption platform with sophisticated analytics on views, watch time, audience behavior, retention, and discovery.

Spotify has added video.

Apple is expanding its video capabilities through HLS. Meanwhile, audiences increasingly move fluidly between audio and video rather than seeing them as completely separate media products.

This raises another difficult question:

What exactly is a podcast now?

The AMP Accords propose a broad podcast definition that encompasses audio or video and open or closed distribution, provided the program remains meaningful without requiring constant visual attention.

Steven likes the basic framework but emphasizes that audiences will ultimately shape the word’s meaning.

People already call shows “podcasts” based on format and experience rather than on technical infrastructure. Most listeners do not know whether a show uses RSS feeds, direct platform uploads, streaming video, or another delivery method.

Rob raises a concern about defining podcasting too strongly through an audio lens.

If a video must always function perfectly with the viewer’s eyes closed, does that discourage creators from investing in richer visual storytelling?

That question becomes increasingly important as video production matures.

A modern video podcast can include visual demonstrations, graphics, archival material, set design, screen sharing, camera movement, and other elements that provide additional value to the viewer. Rob argues that creators should retain the freedom to build excellent audio and excellent video experiences, even when the two versions are not identical.

The discussion then moves to another major part of liquid content: short-form video.

Shorts or Clips were initially treated primarily as promotional tools designed to push people toward the full episode. That assumption is changing.

Some audience members may never consume the full show. They may know a creator entirely through Shorts, Reels, TikTok, or other excerpts.

Steven describes this as both an opportunity and a potential problem.

If a creator publishes the four best moments from an hour-long conversation, some viewers may decide those clips provide everything they wanted from the episode.

That means short-form may represent a separate audience, not simply a funnel into long-form media.

At the same time, social clips have become an increasingly important discovery mechanism.

Creators cannot simply ignore the places where audiences spend their time.

That is the essence of liquid content: the audience determines where and how the media gets consumed.

Artificial intelligence adds another layer.

Steven believes creators should increasingly think beyond traditional SEO, Search Engine Optimization, toward AEO, Answer Engine Optimization.

AI systems are increasingly becoming discovery engines themselves. Instead of searching through a list of websites or podcast episodes, a user may ask an AI system a specific question and receive a direct answer assembled from available sources.

That shift could be especially valuable for niche creators.

A podcast with deep authority in a narrow subject may become an important source of AI-generated answers if its content is well-structured, transcribed, accessible, and clearly associated with expertise in that category.

Rob expands the discussion into recommendation systems.

YouTube already uses AI extensively to determine which content should be presented to which audience. Similar systems will increasingly influence discovery throughout digital media.

That creates a harder competitive environment.

Steven argues that mediocre content will be crushed. As audiences face effectively unlimited choices and algorithms become better at filtering those choices, simply producing acceptable content may no longer be enough. Shows need differentiation, relevance, expertise, strong personalities, or storytelling that holds attention.

That does not mean every successful podcast needs millions of listeners.

Steven points to niche podcasts serving highly specific professional communities. A show about HVAC systems may never become a mainstream entertainment hit, but it can still become an extremely valuable business if it reaches the right technicians, manufacturers, buyers, and industry decision-makers.

Influence within a valuable niche can matter more than raw audience scale.

The conversation closes by examining the tension between short-form and long-form media.

Consumers are time-starved.

Summaries, clips, AI-generated takeaways, and compressed content are becoming increasingly useful.

Yet long-form is not disappearing.

Joe Rogan, Acquired, Dan Carlin, and other successful long-form creators demonstrate that audiences will still spend hours with content when the storytelling, expertise, personality, or subject deserves the investment.

The real challenge is earning the audience’s time.

In the Liquid Content Era, creators are no longer simply publishing episodes. They are building adaptable media assets that can move across platforms, formats, screens, algorithms, and audiences.

The measurement systems now need to catch up.

Topics Covered in This Episode:
-What Steven Goldstein means by the Liquid Content Era
-Why one piece of content now becomes many media products
-Why the podcast download is becoming less representative of consumption
-What podcasting can learn from radio and television measurement
-Why advertisers need unified cross-platform metrics
-The AMP Accords and the future of podcast measurement
-The proposed 30-second play standard
-Plays, audience, ad impressions, and ad audience
-Audio versus video measurement
-Apple HLS, YouTube, Spotify, and platform competition
-Why the definition of a podcast continues to evolve
-Whether video podcasts need to work with the viewer’s eyes closed
-The difference between clipping content and creating for vertical video
-Why clips may represent a separate audience
-AI and Answer Engine Optimization
-How algorithms increasingly control media discovery
-Why mediocre content faces greater pressure
-High-value niche content versus mass audience scale
-What it takes to create a hit today
-Why long-form content can still win

Chapter Time Stamp Markers
00:00 Welcome to The New Media Show Episode 680
00:36 The Liquid Content Era needs new measurement
01:10 Introducing Steven Goldstein of Amplifi Media
02:07 Why media has entered the Liquid Content Era
03:18 The New York Times as a liquid content example
04:41 Podcasting moves from audio into multimedia
05:29 Video was always part of podcasting
06:22 Why the download originally made sense
07:13 Streaming changes how podcast consumption is measured
08:08 What podcasting can learn from radio measurement
09:11 From listening diaries to electronic measurement
10:00 Why advertisers need podcasting inside their dashboards
11:05 Audio and video buying remain separated at agencies
12:06 How television moved toward impression-based measurement
13:13 Short-form video enters the podcast media mix
14:12 Introducing the AMP Accords
15:08 What the AMP Accords propose
17:03 What AMP got right and what could go wrong
18:41 Why 30 seconds is a starting point, not the final answer
20:06 Moving beyond the download
21:23 Downloads do not always equal actual listening
22:03 The IAB and industry resistance to changing measurement
23:20 Some shows will gain, and others will lose under better metrics
24:18 Why Steven believes the download cannot be the future
25:11 Consumer behavior is forcing podcasting to change
26:02 Vertical video becomes a major media business
27:01 Can YouTube, Spotify, and Apple align around new metrics?
29:16 Comparing 30-second and 60-second exposure
31:07 Plays, audience, ad impressions, and advertiser needs
32:16 Why advertisers dislike hidden podcast audience numbers
33:07 Measurement matters differently for niche podcasts
34:19 How audiences move between audio and video
36:05 Should audio and video come from the same media file?
37:02 Why measurement does not need to be perfect to improve
38:16 Liquid content keeps expanding into new formats
39:14 What qualifies as a podcast now?
40:02 The audience may ultimately define podcasting
41:35 Does “eyes closed” unfairly prioritize audio?
43:05 Could the new definition weaken video creativity?
44:31 Separate audio and video podcast experiences
46:07 Vertical video versus automatically generated clips
46:52 Are clips replacing the full episode?
48:04 Short-form audiences may be entirely different
49:00 AI enters the Liquid Content Era
49:28 SEO shifts toward Answer Engine Optimization
50:27 AI becomes the first layer of media discovery
51:13 Algorithms judge what audiences see
53:04 Why mediocre content will be crushed
54:02 What qualifies as quality content?
55:04 Niche media does not need mass scale
57:07 How specialized podcasts can build valuable businesses
58:38 Why podcast creation remains flat despite creator growth
1:00:16 Creators no longer need traditional media gatekeepers
1:01:21 What the COVID podcast boom taught the industry
1:02:27 High-value content and why hits are hard
1:03:05 Differentiation as the foundation of a successful show
1:05:05 What television can teach podcasters about format innovation
1:06:22 Why creators compete for increasingly limited audience time
1:07:34 Short-form versus long-form content
1:08:22 Why people increasingly use AI to summarize long content
1:09:08 Joe Rogan, Acquired, and why long-form still succeeds
1:10:05 Gen Z will consume long content when it earns the time
1:11:01 Structured YouTube content versus podcast conversations
1:13:00 Final thoughts on the changing New Media landscape
1:14:00 Where to find The New Media Show

Guest: Steven Goldstein, Founder and CEO, Amplifi Media

Amplifi Media: https://www.amplifimedia.com
About Steven Goldstein: https://www.amplifimedia.com/about
Steven Goldstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-goldstein-a057b54
Amplifi Media on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amplifi-media

Steven Goldstein is founder and CEO of Amplifi Media and teaches The Business of Podcasting at NYU. His current work focuses heavily on the shift toward cross-platform audio, video, and social distribution, as well as what he describes as the Liquid Content Era.

AMP Accords

Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting: https://ampaccords.com

The AMP Accords focus on three areas: standardizing impression metrics, developing cross-platform performance measurement, and creating a common industry definition of a podcast.

Host, Rob Greenlee, and New Media Show Links

AI Disclosure Note:

AI tools were used to create a video and audio introduction clip, episode images, help organize and edit this episode and summarize its description, and create chapter markers from the completed Episode 680 transcript. The recorded conversation, human performances, guest perspectives, editorial direction, final review, and responsibility for the published content remain with actual humans Rob Greenlee and Steven Goldstein.

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IRL Experiences Build Trust and Authority | Samara Beth Hurley #679

August 6, 2026August 5, 2026 ~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

In Episode 679 of the New Media Show, host and Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee welcomes Samara Beth Hurley, founder and CEO of Samara Beth & Co., for a wide-ranging conversation about experiential branding, audience trust, personal authority, storytelling, live events, artificial intelligence, and the growing value of real human relationships.

Creators have more ways than ever to attract attention through podcasts, video, social media, newsletters, events, books, speaking, search, and AI-powered discovery.

But attention is only the beginning.

The deeper challenge is turning attention into trust, trust into authority, and authority into relationships that can support a lasting creator brand or business.

Samara brings more than 30 years of experience across events, experiential branding, public relations, marketing, publishing, coaching, speaking, and business strategy. She explains why memorable experiences engage more than the mind. They involve emotion, physical presence, environment, story, and multiple senses, making them more likely to remain with an audience.

The central idea of the episode is that content may introduce people to a creator, but experiences can make that creator memorable.

From Attention to Experience:

Why creators need more than visibility, impressions, downloads, views, or followers. Samara explains that an immersive experience can involve all five senses and create a much deeper memory than a conventional piece of content. This can happen through an in-person event, retreat, workshop, book, video, virtual presentation, conversation, or carefully designed brand interaction.

The goal is not simply to be seen.

The goal is to make people feel something meaningful and consistent enough that they remember the creator, trust the message, and understand the value behind the brand.

Samara also explains why events should be reverse-engineered around the desired audience result. Before selecting the venue, visuals, entertainment, content, or promotion, creators should determine what they want people to believe, feel, remember, and do after the experience.

Credibility, Confidence, and Congruence:

One of the central frameworks Samara shares is her three-part trust formula:

– Credibility
– Confidence
– Congruence

Credibility comes from experience, demonstrated knowledge, proof, media appearances, testimonials, awards, published work, results, and a consistent record of showing up.

Confidence develops through practice. Samara discusses how speaking, presenting, selling, training, and communicating become stronger through repetition rather than waiting to feel completely prepared.

Congruence means that the person audiences encounter across a website, podcast, social profile, book, stage, event, media appearance, and personal interaction should feel recognizably connected.

Omnipresence With a Strategy:

Samara describes herself as an “omnipresence fairy godmother” and explains why creators need to appear across multiple relevant platforms, media formats, and public channels.

But omnipresence does not mean publishing without direction.

Creators need a strategy that connects social media, podcasts, video, PR, books, articles, television appearances, events, awards, websites, and public profiles.

Rob and Samara discuss the danger of throwing content onto platforms without a clear understanding of the audience, purpose, brand position, or desired business outcome.

A creator may be visible everywhere but still be difficult to understand.

The strongest public presence creates repeated, credible signals around who the person is, what they know, what they stand for, and why their work matters.

Personal Brand Versus Business Brand:

Samara explains the distinction between a personal brand and a business brand.

A personal brand is connected to the individual’s name, expertise, story, reputation, values, speaking, publishing, and long-term legacy.

A business brand may be structured so it can grow beyond the founder, employ a larger team, scale independently, and potentially be sold.

Not every creator needs both.

– A coach, speaker, consultant, author, or experienced executive may only need a strong personal brand.

– A founder building a company that can eventually operate without them may need a separate business identity and brand architecture.

Turning Personal Stories Into Authority:

How frequent moves, career changes, family experiences, loss, divorce, business transitions, and personal reinvention shaped Samara’s current work.

The conversation examines when personal experience becomes a valuable market asset rather than simply a private story.

Samara argues that people connect to stories because stories help audiences see themselves inside another person’s experience.

A strong creator does not need to reveal every private detail. A personal experience can be adapted, anonymized, reframed, or presented as a client, family, or community example when appropriate.

The purpose is not personal exposure for its own sake.

The purpose is to make knowledge relatable, memorable, and useful to the audience. Samara also describes how she integrated memoir elements into her business book, “WIN YOUR BRAND: The Unapologetic Playbook for Becoming Iconic”. Her personal stories support the larger lessons about branding, resilience, visibility, relationships, and authority.

When the Brand Leaves the Screen:

Why in-person events, retreats, masterminds, workshops, intimate gatherings, and community experiences may become more important as digital content becomes more abundant.

Large conferences can provide scale and visibility, but smaller events can create stronger relationships.

A person may speak to thousands of people from a major stage but only build genuine relationships with a smaller number through meals, conversations, workshops, shared activities, informal gatherings, and follow-up.

Samara believes the market is moving toward more intimate experiences where participants can meet one another, build trust, share knowledge, and form partnerships.

The most valuable part of an event may happen over coffee, dinner, a walk, a workout, a shared hotel stay, or a conversation after the scheduled programming has ended.

Those interactions can create referrals, clients, collaborations, partnerships, friendships, and long-term business value.

Creating Immersive Virtual Experiences:

Not every creator or audience member can travel.

Storytelling, visual design, direct eye contact, shared activities, gifts, music, food, demonstrations, physical materials, and guided participation can make virtual experiences more engaging.

A virtual event cannot fully replicate physical presence, but it can be designed to foster stronger emotional engagement.

Storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools.

When a creator describes a setting, emotion, challenge, sound, physical feeling, or moment in detail, the audience can begin to experience that story even when they are not physically present.

Samara supports the use of AI for research, workflow automation, idea development, organization, operational support, and production assistance.

But warn against using AI in ways that create a false impression or weaken the audience’s confidence in the creator, thereby breaking trust.

Rob discusses his decision to label The New Media Show as human-hosted and his earlier consideration of creating an AI-generated co-host or clone.

They explore how synthetic voices, avatars, cloned appearances, generated scripts, and automated media could become increasingly difficult to distinguish from human-created work.

The risk is not simply that AI content exists.

The larger risk is that an audience believes it is interacting with a real person and later discovers that it was misled.

Transparency, consent, rights, voice protection, likeness protection, and responsible disclosure will become more important as these technologies improve.

Many of these tools remain inconsistent.

They may produce images that do not resemble the person, use generic language, miss the creator’s personality, or create more work rather than saving time.

Samara advises creators not to purchase every new tool simply because an early price or lifetime deal appears attractive.

The AI marketplace is crowded, and many products have not yet reached a reliable level of quality.

Creators should begin with a clear problem, test the technology, measure the result, and determine whether the tool actually improves the work. Professional photography, original video, custom design, trusted partners, and human creative judgment continue to matter.

Content Repurposing Versus New Content:

The conversation also explores the tension between repurposing existing material and creating new content for specific platforms.

AI can help extract clips, rewrite posts, summarize interviews, search archives, and transform old material into different formats. But audiences and platforms may still respond more strongly to content created for the current moment.

Samara explains that her social media team encouraged her to reduce some repurposing and create more original, audience-directed content.

The larger lesson is that efficiency should not replace relevance.

Creators need a balance between extending the value of existing work and continuing to produce fresh ideas, stories, and perspectives.

Relationships Are the Long-Term Advantage:

The episode returns repeatedly to the value of relationships.

Platforms, algorithms, content formats, AI systems, and business models will continue changing. A creator’s strongest long-term assets may be credibility, relationships, reputation, trust, lived experience, professional network, and the ability to create meaningful human connection.

AI can help operate the systems behind a business.

AI can automate repetitive tasks, support follow-up, organize information, and free up more time.

Samara’s argument is that creators should use some of that saved time to be with people, attend events, build relationships, have conversations, and create experiences that technology cannot easily reproduce.

Discussion Highlights

– Why attention alone does not create trust or authority
– How immersive experiences engage memory and emotion
– Using all five senses in events, books, media, and brand experiences
– Samara’s three Cs of trust: credibility, confidence, and congruence
– The difference between omnipresence and unstructured content publishing
– Why creators need a clear personal-brand strategy
– When a separate business brand is necessary
– Turning lived experience into relatable authority
– Using storytelling without exposing every part of private life
– Why smaller, intimate events can create deeper relationships
– Making virtual experiences more engaging and memorable
– The value of books, speaking, PR, awards, podcasts, and media appearances
– Balancing content repurposing with original platform-specific work
– Using AI for research, automation, ideas, and workflow support
– The limits of AI avatars, generated imagery, and creator clones
– Protecting voice, likeness, intellectual property, and reputation
– Why professional photography and original creative assets still matter
– The importance of transparency when using AI
– Using AI to create more time for real human relationships
– Why networking after an event may be more valuable than the formal sessions
– The movement toward smaller retreats, workshops, summits, and masterminds
– Building a legacy while still being able to experience it

Chapter Markers:

00:42 Why creator brands need more than content
02:22 Introducing Samara Beth Hurley
04:00 How experiences engage the five senses
05:20 Reverse-engineering events around audience outcomes
06:23 Building connection in person and virtually
08:47 Audience attention, energy, and human presence
09:32 Omnipresence across platforms and media
11:25 Samara’s three Cs of trust
12:06 Building confidence through repetition
13:28 Congruence and consistency across a brand
14:25 Turning personal history into a relevant story
16:20 Content overload and the need for strategy
18:48 Why creators need a personal-brand strategy
20:11 Building a legacy while living it
21:06 Personal brands versus business brands
22:01 Separating private life from professional content
24:05 Executive transitions and second-act personal brands
25:50 Recession-proofing a business
26:32 The growing trust recession
27:54 What an immersive brand means today
29:25 Creating immersive retreats, workshops, and masterminds
30:31 Bringing experiential elements into virtual media
32:04 Storytelling that helps audiences feel present
34:17 Why relatable content performs
35:52 Using memoir and personal experience in a business book
37:20 Turning stories into business and brand value
38:29 Building trust through partners and vendors
39:52 Using AI to help shape stories and scripts
41:04 The difficulty of making AI speech feel human
41:55 Human-hosted media and the future of creator clones
44:04 Content scraping, archives, and AI repurposing
45:14 When repurposed content stops performing
46:12 Problems with AI-generated images and avatars
47:20 Why creators should stop buying every new AI tool
48:21 The coming AI platform shakeout
50:37 How established brands survive technology shifts
51:14 How creators should use AI today
52:15 AI for research, editing, and practical support
53:04 Why professional photos and original assets still matter
54:00 AI, copyright, likeness, and intellectual property
55:44 Using AI without replacing the creator
57:04 Transparency and disclosure
58:24 Adapting without losing human credibility
59:21 Trust must be earned
01:00:01 Why intimate events are returning
01:02:01 Relationship building versus event scale
01:03:23 Why smaller gatherings can be more memorable
01:04:42 Samara’s future television and media plans
01:06:05 AI can create more time for human connection
01:07:05 Why the best networking happens after the event
01:08:41 Using automation to support real relationships
01:09:06 Responsible AI and protecting audience trust
01:10:03 Why Rob chose not to create an AI co-host
01:11:01 Avoiding deception with synthetic media
01:12:18 Where to find Samara Beth Hurley
01:13:05 “WIN YOUR BRAND” and Samara’s audiobook plans

About the Guest:

Samara Beth Hurley, professionally known as Samara Beth, is the founder and CEO of Samara Beth & Co.

She is an experiential branding strategist, event producer, speaker, author, business coach, and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience across events, public relations, branding, marketing, publishing, community building, and business development.

Her work focuses on helping entrepreneurs, executives, authors, speakers, and creators turn expertise and personal stories into immersive brands that operate consistently online and offline.

Samara is the author of “WIN YOUR BRAND: The Unapologetic Playbook for Becoming Iconic”, a combination of personal storytelling, branding strategy, resilience, and practical frameworks for building a memorable brand.

Samara Beth & Co.
https://samarabethandco.com

Samara Beth Personal Website
https://samarabeth.com

WIN YOUR BRAND: The Unapologetic Playbook for Becoming Iconic
https://brands.samarabethandco.com/winyourbrandbook

Samara Beth Hurley on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samarahurley

Samara Beth & Co. on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/samarabethandco

About the Host:

Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Chair of the Podcast Hall of Fame, and a longtime new-media executive, creator, strategist, and industry leader. He is the founder of Trust Factor Lab.

The New Media Show
https://newmediashow.com

The New Media Show on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow

New Media Show Audio on Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649

Rob Greenlee
https://robgreenlee.com

Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee

Rob Greenlee on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@RobGreenlee

Podcast Hall of Fame
https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure

AI tools were used to create a video and audio introduction clip, episode images, help organize and edit this episode and its description, and create chapter markers from the completed Episode 679 transcript. The recorded conversation, human performances, guest perspectives, editorial direction, final review, and responsibility for the published content remain with actual human Rob Greenlee and Samara Beth Hurley.

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Blubrry’s Next Chapter | Barry Kantz, CEO/CFO #678

August 3, 2026 ~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

In Episode 678 of the New Media Show, host and Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee welcomes Barry Kantz, CEO and CFO of Blubrry Podcasting, for a candid conversation about Blubrry’s leadership transition, the legacy of (RIP) former CEO Todd Cochrane, independent podcasting, video, artificial intelligence, monetization, measurement, human support, and the changing podcast-hosting market.

For more than 20 years, Blubrry and its parent company, RawVoice, have helped build and support the open podcast ecosystem. The sudden passing of Blubrry founder and longtime New Media Show co-host Todd Cochrane forced the company, its team, and Todd’s family to navigate an unexpected personal and business transition.

Barry explains how Blubrry responded, how leadership responsibilities shifted, and how his management approach differs from Todd’s hard-charging entrepreneurial style. Barry is bringing a more data-driven and systems-focused approach while trusting Blubrry’s experienced remote team to carry the company forward.

The conversation also examines how podcasting itself is changing.

Audio remains central to the medium, but video has become part of how audiences define and experience podcasts. Rob and Barry discuss YouTube discovery, the overlap between watching and listening, short-form clips, RSS distribution, Apple’s HLS video support, alternative enclosures, Podcasting 2.0, and Blubrry’s Vid2Pod tool for turning YouTube videos into audio podcast episodes.

Barry also shares an update on Blubrry’s HLS video development and discusses the company’s new lower-priced starter plan introduced around the time of the recording.

Artificial intelligence is another major part of Blubrry’s next chapter.

Barry explains how he uses Claude as a daily assistant for analytics, automation, research, and company operations.

Barry sees AI as a way to make podcast creation and management easier, especially for creators who may not have extensive technical experience.

At the same time, Blubrry’s larger goal is to use technology to support human expression rather than replace the human connection that gives podcasting its value.

Rob and Barry discuss low-effort AI-generated content, synthetic media, voice cloning, the limitations of automated clipping tools, and the growing need to distinguish human-hosted shows from fully automated productions.

The discussion then moves into monetization and the opportunities still available to independent creators.

Barry argues that smaller shows can create meaningful business value when they serve a clearly defined audience and develop strong relationships with listeners. Creators do not necessarily need millions of downloads. A focused show with several hundred deeply engaged listeners can provide valuable access to a professional, geographic, or consumer community.

Barry also reflects on Blubrry’s early work with host-read advertising and Todd Cochrane’s long-running sponsorship relationship with GoDaddy as examples of how trust, consistency, niche relevance, and audience connection can create durable advertiser value.

Rob and Barry also examine the challenge of measuring audio and video under a common standard.

HLS video, progressive audio downloads, platform-controlled playback, and various delivery methods complicate the determination of what should count as a verified play. The discussion explores why common measurement matters to advertisers and why the industry may need different technical approaches for audio and video consumption.

The episode closes with a broader look at the increasingly competitive podcast-hosting market.

Hosting, storage, and delivery have become commodities. The competitive difference now comes from the tools, services, support, analytics, workflows, distribution options, and human expertise built around the infrastructure.

For Blubrry, that includes PowerPress, WordPress integration, video support, Vid2Pod, Podcasting 2.0 features, AI-assisted workflows, monetization options, analytics, and access to experienced human support.

Both reflect on the legacy Todd Cochrane helped create and provide a detailed look at how Blubrry plans to move forward in a media environment shaped by audio, video, AI, open distribution, creator ownership, and changing audience expectations.

Key Discussion Topics:

– Blubrry’s transition following Todd Cochrane’s passing
– Barry Kantz’s leadership and management approach
– How the Blubrry team responded to sudden change
– Todd’s influence on podcasting and the open ecosystem
– The evolving definition of a podcast
– Audience movement between watching and listening
– YouTube discovery and short-form video
– Blubrry’s Vid2Pod technology
– Apple HLS video support
– RSS, alternative enclosures, and Podcasting 2.0
– Blubrry’s lower-priced starter plan
– AI-assisted podcast production and operations
– Human-hosted media versus automated content
– Voice cloning, authenticity, and audience trust
– Monetization for independent and niche creators
– Host-read advertising and direct sponsorships
– Measuring audio and video consumption
– Podcast hosting as a commodity
– PowerPress and the continuing role of WordPress
– Human customer support as a competitive advantage
– The future of independent podcasting

Chapter Time Stamps:

00:00 Welcome to The New Media Show Episode 678
00:44 Blubrry’s role in the open podcast ecosystem
02:03 Introducing Barry Kantz, CEO and CFO of Blubrry Podcasting
03:31 The sudden loss of former co-founder/CEO of Blubrry, Todd Cochrane
05:22 How the Blubrry team responded
06:29 Barry’s leadership style compared with Todd’s
08:17 Bringing data and operational systems into the company
09:57 How Todd might view today’s podcast market
11:11 Video becomes part of podcasting
13:20 Blubrry’s Vid2Pod product
14:46 Barry’s transition from CFO to CEO
18:14 The opportunity for independent creators
20:00 Who now defines what a podcast is?
21:07 Audiences move between watching and listening
23:24 YouTube discovery and the importance of Shorts
24:55 The limitations of AI-generated clips
26:20 Blubrry’s Apple HLS video rollout
28:12 Blubrry introduces a lower-priced starter plan
29:08 Alternative enclosures and Podcasting 2.0
30:34 Barry’s use of Claude as an AI assistant
32:02 Supporting human creators while limiting AI slop
33:20 Voice cloning and the challenge of replicating humanity
36:18 Blubrry’s philosophy on podcast monetization
37:30 How niche shows can attract direct sponsors
39:27 Managing expectations for new podcasters
43:16 Measuring HLS video and audio downloads
46:45 New competition in podcast hosting
47:36 Why hosting has become a commodity
50:45 Product focus, acquisitions, and platform complexity
52:01 WordPress, PowerPress, and AI-assisted websites
55:00 Blubrry’s commitment to human customer support
57:31 Closing thoughts on Blubrry’s future

About the Guest:

Barry Kantz is CEO and CFO of Blubrry Podcasting and one of the original founders of its parent company, RawVoice.

Barry has produced podcasts since 2005 and has worked with Blubrry throughout its more than 20-year history. His responsibilities have included company finance, legal affairs, human resources, analytics, operations, and business leadership.

Following the passing of Blubrry founder Todd Cochrane, Barry stepped into the company’s primary leadership role. He is now guiding Blubrry through its next chapter as podcasting expands across audio, video, artificial intelligence, open RSS distribution, WordPress, and creator-led media.

Blubrry Podcasting
https://blubrry.com

Blubrry Leadership and Company Information
https://blubrry.com/about

Barry Kantz on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kantzb

Blubrry Podcast Insider
https://blubrry.com/podcast-insider

About the Host:

Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Chair of the Podcast Hall of Fame, and a longtime new-media executive, creator, strategist, and industry leader. He is the co-founder and current host of The New Media Show and the founder of Trust Factor Lab. Rob has worked across podcasting, radio, digital media, audio, video, creator platforms, partnerships, distribution, monetization, and emerging AI-assisted media for more than 26 years.

His previous leadership roles include Microsoft, PodcastOne, Spreaker, and Libsyn, where he helped shape the growth of podcasting, distribution platforms, creator partnerships, and digital audio.

Through The New Media Show, Rob explores how podcasting fits inside the larger new-media ecosystem, including video, livestreaming, artificial intelligence, platforms, audience ownership, intellectual property, advertising, trust, and sustainable creator businesses.

New Media Show
https://newmediashow.com

The New Media Show on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow

New Media Show Audio on Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649

Rob Greenlee
https://robgreenlee.com

Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee

Rob Greenlee on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@RobGreenlee

Podcast Hall of Fame
https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure:

AI tools were used to help organize and edit this episode description and create chapter markers from the completed episode transcript. The editorial direction, final review, industry perspective, and responsibility for the published content remain with Rob Greenlee. This description reflects the substance of the recorded conversation between Barry Kantz and Rob Greenlee.