If you are trying to understand where podcasting may still have real, untapped opportunities in 2026 and beyond, this is one of those conversations that point to an important answer: Local.

On Episode 658 of The New Media Show, Host Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee shares a microphone and a video camera with guest David Plotz, founder and CEO of CityCast.fm and co-host of the Political Gabfest podcast from Slate, to:

Explore what local podcasts can become in a media environment increasingly shaped by video, platforms, social discovery, and changing audience habits. The conversation starts with local audio, but it quickly opens into something bigger: trust, emotional connection, local relevance, and the question of whether city-based media may be one of the strongest growth areas left in podcasting.

David frames City Cast as a network of daily local podcasts, newsletters, social content, and events, built around helping people feel more connected to the cities they live in.

The real takeaway in this episode is that local podcasting is not simply a smaller version of national podcasting. It operates under a different set of strengths and constraints.

Local Podcasting may never offer the same scale as national audio, but it can offer something more personal and durable: a trusted daily relationship grounded in place. That becomes a powerful differentiator at a time when many creators and media companies are chasing reach but struggling to build loyalty.

David brings a rare combination to this topic because he is not just theorizing about local media from the outside. He has built and led major editorial organizations, co-hosted one of podcasting’s longest-running political shows, and is now running one of the clearest experiments in local podcast-first media.

In the episode, he explains that podcasting’s deepest strength is not raw information delivery but feeling, intimacy, and connection. He argues that podcasting works when people are not just informed but emotionally connected to the speakers and the place being discussed. That idea becomes the foundation for how City Cast approaches local media.

One of the most useful parts of this episode is hearing David describe what City Cast is actually trying to replace and what it is not.

He makes clear that City Cast is not primarily a breaking-news operation. Instead, it builds on an existing local news ecosystem and tries to become the smartest, most interesting, and most delightful daily conversation about what matters in a city. That distinction matters. It means City Cast is not trying to be a direct substitute for newspapers or broadcast radio in every function. It is trying to become additive, conversational, and habit-forming in ways that better fit the strengths of podcasting.

From there, the conversation moves into the central tension of the episode: if podcasting is so strong at local trust and emotional connection, why is local podcasting still so hard to scale?

David is candid about the addressable audience being smaller, discovery being difficult, and the economics still being figured out. Those are not minor obstacles. They are the core business problem. City Cast’s challenge is not simply editorial quality. It is proving that local podcast audiences are valuable, engaged, and commercially meaningful enough to support a durable business.

That leads directly into the video. One of the strongest strategic insights in the episode is David’s acknowledgment that City Cast did not lean into social and video early enough. He says plainly that the company is now correcting that. The reason is not that audio has failed. The reason is that discovery increasingly happens elsewhere.

Younger audiences find local information through social media, YouTube, and short-form feeds. Audio may still be the best format for relationships and routines, but video and social are becoming essential for visibility, especially among younger audiences.

A core theme in this episode is that the real opportunity may not be “local podcasts” as a narrow category, but local media brands built around podcasts. City Cast is already moving in that direction through newsletters, events, social distribution, and membership. David’s description of the “Neighbors” membership concept is especially revealing. It shows that the City Cast brand is not just about delivering content. It is about building a sense of mutuality, place, and civic belonging. That is a different ambition than simply growing downloads. It is also where local podcasting may have an edge over broader media.

This episode ultimately lands on a simple reality: local podcasting is real, but it is not easy. Audio still has a unique role to play in building trust and connection, but it is no longer enough to rely on audio alone for growth and discovery.

The winning local media brands may be the ones that understand how to keep audio at the center while surrounding it with the right mix of video, social, newsletters, and community. In that sense, this conversation is not just about local podcasts. It is about where the media gets human again.

Quick Q & A Answers

What is City Cast trying to build?
A local media network built around daily city podcasts, newsletters, social content, and events that help people feel more connected to where they live.

Is local podcasting a replacement for local newspapers or radio?
Not exactly. David describes it more as additive than as a replacement, with podcasting playing to conversation, feeling, and connection rather than to pure breaking news.

Why is local podcasting hard to build as a business?
The audience is geographically limited, discovery is difficult, and the economics are still being worked out. City Cast is trying to prove that highly engaged local audiences can support a durable model.

Does video matter for local podcasts?
Yes, increasingly as a discovery-and-growth layer. David says City Cast came to social and video later than it should have and is now correcting that.

What is the deeper advantage of local audio?
Its strength is emotional connection, intimacy, daily relevance, and trust. That may matter more as audiences seek media that feels useful and human.

Video Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and local media framing
02:26 David Plotz joins the show
03:00 Slate Political Gabfest history
07:39 Live events and audience connection
11:47 Podcasting as emotion and intimacy
16:27 Why City Cast exists
18:07 How City Cast serves cities
20:12 Why City Cast is additive, not a replacement
25:00 The economics of local podcasting
26:22 Washington DC and local news opportunity
29:12 Local versus diaspora audiences
32:02 Your City Could Be Better
33:14 Local advertising and audience value
35:12 Why local podcasting is harder than it looks
37:02 Social discovery and local media habits
38:07 Video and Apple Podcasts
44:40 City Cast video workflow challenge
47:28 Graham Holdings and Megaphone context
51:12 Which cities work best for City Cast
53:12 Public radio overlap and younger audiences
54:40 Why City Cast missed the video early
57:27 Audio, video, and multimedia future
01:00:11 Neighbors and local trust
01:01:53 Politics, balance, and civic voice
01:05:18 Events and community building
01:06:36 Wrap up

Links

Guest David Plotz Links

City Cast: https://citycast.fm/
City Cast Mission: https://citycast.fm/our-mission
City Cast Membership / Neighbors: https://membership.citycast.fm/
David Plotz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-plotz-ab02164a

Host Rob Greenlee and Show Links

New Media Show: https://newmediashow.com/
Rob Greenlee: https://robgreenlee.com/
Trust Factor Lab: https://trustfactorlab.com/
Adore Creator Network: https://adorenetwork.com/
Podcast Hall of Fame: https://podcasthall.com/
Rob Greenlee YouTube: https://youtube.com/@robgreenlee
Rob Greenlee LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee
Rob Greenlee Instagram: https://instagram.com/robwgreenlee

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