If you’re trying to figure out how to build a future-proof show in 2026, the answer is not a new platform or a new gimmick. Podcasting is changing expectations. Audiences judge creators like brands, platforms reward shows that behave like programs, and AI is raising the baseline quality while making trust and differentiation harder to earn. On this episode #653 of The New Media Show, Rob Greenlee (Podcast Hall of Fame Chairperson, 2017 inductee), and am joined by Anika Jackson, founder of Your Brand Amplified and faculty at USC Annenberg, where she teaches podcasting and digital media management. Anika brings a rare educator-operator perspective because she’s building in the real world while shaping how the next generation of creators thinks about content, AI personalities, human clones, business, and audience growth. Listen and follow: https://newmediashow.com/ and https://robgreenlee.com/ Learn more about Anika: https://yourbrandamplified.com/ A big theme in this conversation is that future-proofing is a systems problem, not a motivation problem. Creators are pulled toward audio, video, clips, social, newsletters, community, sponsors, and now AI tools. The ones who win in the long term are the ones

New Media Show #652 with Rob Greenlee and Lauren Shippen On Episode 652 of the New Media Show, host Rob Greenlee shares a screen with Lauren Shippen, Creative Director at Atypical Artists, to tackle a growing tension in creator media around audio fiction, which is thriving as a storytelling format but is being pressure-tested by the industry’s video-first discovery push. Fiction podcasts did not stop working. What changed is how platforms signal value, how audiences discover new shows, and how creators feel forced to look video-ready to compete. The real question for fiction creators in 2026 is not “How do I force my story into video?” It is “How do I protect the magic of audio storytelling while adding the right discovery layers for today’s platforms?” Lauren shares what fiction creators often misunderstand about sustainability, what typically breaks first when the story stalls, and where video helps, hurts, or becomes unrealistic. Rob lays out a practical framework for separating audio as the product from video as the discovery layer, plus realistic tiers of visual strategy that will not turn your show into a second production company. Quick answers for creat

On Weds, February 18th Live Episode #651 of the New Media Show, Rob Greenlee, Host, 2017 Podcast Hall of Famer and CEO of Trust Factor Lab at https://RobGreenlee.com, and James Cridland, Editor, https://Podnews.net and 2026 Podcast Hall of Famer discuss Apple’s announcement of a new and improved video podcast experience in the Apple Podcasts app and what it changes technically and strategically heading into 2026.  They explain how video was previously active in Apple Podcasts but was hidden and poorly presented in the iOS apps, and how this new updated experience makes video playback front and center, with a “turn video off” option that keeps the audio track playing.  The episode breaks down Apple’s preferred move to HLS-based on-demand video delivery (via a separate, proprietary API HLS video streaming pass-through submission from approved hosting partners) while still supporting legacy MP4 video via RSS.  They cover HLS basics (chunked delivery, adaptive quality, reduced bandwidth, and hosting costs), improved seeking/scrubbing versus progressive MP4 playback, and new measurement implications (better insight into drop-off and ad viewing). A major focus is monetization: Apple plans to enable dynamic ad insertion for HLS video and charge a per-impression fee, positioning Apple to take revenue without opera

AI-generated podcast hosts and shows are rapidly changing podcasting, video podcasting, and the creator economy across all distribution platforms, including AI LLMs. In this episode of The New Media Show Live #650 from Feb 4th, 2026, Host Rob Greenlee, CEO/Founder of Trust Factor Lab, explores how AI-generated podcasts affect people, trust, and the future of media with Jeanine Wright, Co-Founder and CEO of Inception Point AI. Jeanine Wright will help us better understand what Inception Point AI is building and why AI-generated personalities are different from human-created podcasts and AI-assisted editing tools. This conversation is designed to help podcasters, creators, media executives, and advertisers understand AI-generated podcast content without fear. It will be a clear, accurate discussion about how synthetic hosts work, how audiences respond emotionally, and what the next 12 to 24 months may look like as AI improves. As humans seem to be rejecting AI-generated content, its human consumption is growing and quality is rapidly improvin

This week in episode 649 of the New Media Show, Rob Greenlee is joined by Jordan Harbinger to unpack the question creators ask nonstop in 2026: What actually grows a podcast or show (and what doesn’t)? – Jordan’s core answer is refreshingly “boring,” but real: long-term consistency, and realistic expectations about how long monetization can take—even for shows that eventually become huge. From there, the conversation expands into the bigger shift happening right now: – Audio podcasts increasingly competing (and collaborating) with video ecosystems especially YouTube where the “rules” and algorithmic expectations are fundamentally different from audio distribution. They also dig into platform strategy and brand-fit tension like whether “talk show” style content truly belongs on Netflix, and why creators may face tough tradeoffs when platforms want exclusivity that can limit reach elsewhere. After Jordan wraps and leaves the show, Rob closes with a rapid-fire, ranked set of growth plays emphasizing that none are

The New Media Show #648 Live On-Stage at Podfest Expo (Jan 16, 2026) Where Audio, Video, and AI Flow Together Recorded live on stage at Podfest Expo in Orlando, Rob Greenlee is joined by three of the smartest voices shaping where podcasting is headed right now: James Cridland (Podnews), Rox Codes (Flightcast), and Philip Nelson (Nelco Media). This episode tackles the collision of audio RSS, platform-native video, and AI-powered creator workflows and why the podcast conversation in 2026 is less about labels and more about content that works everywhere. What we cover: -Audio podcasting vs video podcasting and what audiences actually want -Why content first matters more than format wars -The roots of video in early podcasting and why it feels full circle again -Fragmented audiences across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Shorts -Practical creator strategy packaging, titles, thumbnails, retention, and workflow systems that scale Guests and Links: James Cridland Podnews – https://podnews.net/ Podnews Weekly Review – https://weekly.podnews.net/

The New Media Show Episode 647 Live on Jan 21st, 20026 at 6pm ET. Show Topic: Digital Creator 2026 Money Playbook Content Creator’s Business and Financial Strategies are moving faster than ever with video, audio podcasting, AI tools, and nonstop platform changes, but many are still running the business side like a hobby. The New Media Show with Rob Greenlee is joined live by Ralph Estep Jr, licensed accountant and host of The Content Creators Accountant, to break down the simple money systems creators need to turn creator chaos into calm financial clarity. If you earn from YouTube AdSense, brand deals and UGC, affiliate income, memberships and subscriptions, courses, coaching, digital products, or PayPal and Stripe payouts, this episode is built for you. Topics we cover: – How to separate business money from personal without overcomplicating it – How to track income across multiple platforms without headaches – How to set aside taxes automatically even in uneven months – How to make smarter gear decisions without wrecking cash flow – How to build simple repeatable financial systems that creators can follow – What to focus on in 2026 to run a real creator business that lasts – 2026 Podcast Hall of Fame

In this new episode from a LIVE Jan 7th, 2026 New Media Show, Host RobGreenlee.com is joined by Dave Jackson (School of Podcasting and co-host of Ask the Podcast Coach) to unpack why the current shift toward video and AI feels like an earthquake inside podcasting, while the YouTube creator world treats it like a normal day. We dig into how creators are now forced to play two games at once: the RSS subscription game and the algorithm discovery game especially for video, and why the definition debates did not matter as much as audience behavior. Rob and Dave also get practical about what breaks and what endures, including growing frustration with heavy ad loads and pre-roll stacking, the realities of programmatic monetization, and why the first thing a listener should hear is you. We cover where video delivery and monetization are heading (including HLS and video ad insertion), why “watch something” still defaults to YouTube for most people, and what Apple Podcasts would need to change if it ever wanted to truly reprioritize RSS-based video podcasting ag

This week (December 17th, 2025) on episode #645 of The New Media Show with Rob Greenlee host is joined by longtime podcasting pioneer and returning guest co-host Cliff Ravenscraft, the Podcast Answer Man, for a wide-ranging and timely conversation about where podcasting has been and where it’s heading next. The episode opens with a reflection on the long-running industry debate around the definition of a podcast and why that question has resurfaced so often over the last few years. Rob and Cliff explore how audience behavior has quietly moved ahead of industry debates, shifting consumption toward a mix of audio, video, livestreams, and platforms like YouTube, often without waiting for permission or consensus. Cliff shares the full story behind his return to the Podcast Answer Man brand after stepping away years ago, including why he left, what he focused on during his time away, and what changes in the podcasting and creator landscape made this the right moment to come back. H

In the December 10th, 2025 Live episode of The New Media Show, host Rob Greenlee welcomes Mike Dell, VP at Blubrry Podcasting, as guest co-host for a grounded, practical conversation about what keeps a podcast growing long after the initial excitement fades. The episode opens with a sincere reflection on Todd’s passing and the lasting impact he had on the community, along with the intention to honor his legacy in the months ahead. From there, Rob and Mike move into the core topic: why many podcasts and live shows start strong, then stall. They unpack how a lack of clarity and consistency often shows up as drifting topics, uneven pacing, and episodes that feel improvised in a way that does not serve the listener. Their argument is simple: sustainable shows are built, not stumbled into. Structure does not mean sounding scripted or robotic. It means defining a format your audience can recognize, returning to it reliably, and creating a repeatable experience that keeps people coming back. They also talk about how modern media habits are reshaping expectations. With shor

In this episode, we relaunch the New Media Show #643 with special guest Rob Walsh, VP of Libsyn. After a difficult last few months following the passing of longtime friend and co-host Todd Cochrane, The New Media Show officially returns with a fresh format and a familiar voice. In this reboot episode, we again talk candidly about the process of bringing the show back, honoring Todd’s legacy, and where the podcasting industry is really headed in 2025 and beyond. Rob Greenlee and Rob Walch dig into the renewed 2026 Podcast Hall of Fame, why hosting it at Podfest Expo matters, and how this year’s inductee class reflects both the early pioneers and today’s global voices. They unpack what advertisers are actually buying right now, why mid sized loyal shows often outperform the “big names,” and how the shift from demographic targeting to psychographic and genre based buying is changing deals for creators at every level. The conversation also explores the rise of private communities and paid video ecosystems on platforms like Substack and Uscreen, plus the relaunch of NewMediaShow.com with a fully restored archive of nearly 600 past episodes. From YouTube and Spotify’s “top podcast” charts to Apple’s long ru

On this special New Media Show tribute episode, we honor the life and legacy of Todd Cochrane, podcasting pioneer, podcast hall of famer, founder of Blubrry and RawVoice, host of Geek News Central podcast, author of one of the first podcasting books, and co-host on The New Media Show for 13 years. Todd’s influence on podcasting was profound: from launching one of the earliest shows in 2004, to creating the Podcast Awards, to championing open RSS and independent podcasters. His voice, conviction, and generosity shaped the medium and inspired countless creators. Joining host Rob Greenlee Podcast Hall of Famer are Adam Curry is also a Podcast Hall of Famer, Mike Dell, VP at Blubrry, and Rob Walch, VP at Libsyn who is also a Podcast Hall of Famer as we reflect on Todd’s extraordinary journey and life, from Navy service to podcasting leader, and discuss his impact on the industry, his unwavering advocacy for creators, and the lessons he leaves for the future of podcasting.The post Remembering Todd Cochrane Podcast Hall of Famer and Blubrry CEO first appeared on New Media Show.

The episode titled “Bryan Barletta of Podcast Movement: What’s Next for the Show?” features hosts Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee, who welcome guest Bryan Barletta. The episode begins with Todd introducing Bryan and discussing the recent happenings at P...

In this episode titled “Podcast Movement Recap and Insights,” hosts Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee discuss their experiences and observations from the recent Podcast Movement conference held in Dallas. Todd has also posted a piece on Linkedin that has ...

In this episode titled “Podcasting’s Future Is Choice”, hosts Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee discuss various aspects of the podcasting industry, particularly surrounding the upcoming Podcast Movement event.

In the latest episode of the New Media Show, hosted by Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee, the discussion begins with a light greeting and banter about upcoming events, particularly Todd’s anticipated return to the United States and the podcast movement.

In this episode of “The New Media Show,” hosts Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee discuss various aspects of independent podcasting, referencing the financial success of the Joe Budden Network, which reportedly makes over a million dollars a month on Patre...

In this episode titled “Adam Curry Returns and Spotify’s Seven Million Shows,” hosts Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee welcome listeners to the new media show. Rob expresses his excitement about discussing various topics,

In this episode of “The New Media Show,” hosted by Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee, the discussion centers on various topics in the podcasting space, with a particular focus on the emerging interest in video podcasting publishing formats.

In this episode of “The New Media Show,” hosts Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee discuss various developments in the podcasting industry, including the surge of live festivals, the opening of awards voting, and Apple’s 20th anniversary of supporting podca...