Category Archives: Podcast

The Future of Podcasting Isn’t Just Video — It’s Format Flexibility

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By Rob Greenlee

In the world of podcasting, the conversation too often turns into a binary: “Go video first” or “Stick with audio.”

“But the truth is, the future isn’t about choosing one over the other—it’s about flexibility, adaptability, and understanding how both formats can work together to serve your content and your audience.“

Video has become a powerful tool for discovery, growth, and monetization. Platforms like YouTube offer unmatched reach and the kind of revenue potential that audio platforms still struggle to match. But that doesn’t mean you have to abandon audio.

“In fact, many of the most successful shows today are finding their stride by thinking hybrid from the start—creating content that sounds great and looks great.“

Here’s something I’ve observed: transitioning from video to audio is much easier than the other way around.

A high-quality video recording can easily be repurposed into a compelling audio podcast. But converting a pure audio show into something visually engaging for video audiences? That takes more thought, more planning, and often a bigger creative lift. This is why designing with both formats in mind from the outset is becoming the smart move for creators who want to future-proof their shows.

That said, audio-first is still incredibly powerful. Podcasting began as an audio medium for a reason—it’s intimate, portable, and deeply engaging. Millions still tune in daily to audio-only shows while driving, walking, working, or relaxing. That connection isn’t going away.

The key is not to treat audio as a secondary format, but to find ways to enhance it with visual assets—clips, promos, companion videos—when it serves your content and audience.

For video-first creators, the opportunity is huge, but there’s a responsibility too. Just because your show looks great on screen doesn’t mean it’s ready to succeed as a podcast. Audio audiences need clarity, structure, and storytelling that works without visuals. Overlooking that can alienate listeners and dilute your message. But when done right?

“A video-first show that respects the audio experience can reach audiences in both worlds.“

This isn’t a competition between formats—it’s a collaboration. Video with audio. Audio with video. The creators who embrace this mindset will be the ones who stay ahead in a media landscape that keeps evolving.

The path forward in podcasting isn’t about picking sides—it’s about expanding possibilities.

What is a Podcast Today in 2025 and Beyond

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By Rob Greenlee

Shorter Version:

Podcast (noun):
An on-demand, audio and or video episodic program, often conversational, narrative, or thematic in nature, distributed through open RSS feeds or proprietary platforms. While primarily audio, many podcasts include video versions and may be freely available or offered through paid subscriptions, existing as ongoing series or limited-run shows.

Longer Version:

Podcast (noun):
A podcast is an on-demand, audio and or video program released in episodic format, often centered on specific themes, stories, or conversations. While traditionally audio-based, many podcasts also include video versions, which audio and video can be distributed via open RSS feeds or platform-specific. In addition to open RSS distribution, podcasts may be uploaded directly to proprietary platform distribution and offered through paid subscription-based access models. Podcasts range from ongoing series to limited-run or short-series programs, and commonly feature conversational, narrative, or thematic storytelling formats.

Is a New Podcasting Industry Association Needed Again?

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By Rob Greenlee, Former VP of Content and Partnerships, Libsyn.com

You might be asking a simple question: Why? Again, we have been here before, and it was called the Association of Downloadable Media (ADM).  It was a grassroots organization formed by some of the larger podcasting players in 2008.

Ten years later, much maturity in the market has occurred, but most new people to podcasting will not have known this history.  It is also true that it does not matter how much what happened in the past, but what we do now going forward.  I agree with that thought, but some lessons can be learned from that experience to make an organization work this time.

The ADM was mostly a failure by most measures, with the group in fighting and backroom closed-door communications in efforts to control the group’s efforts. Still, some good came out of it, and we did set some very basic measurement standards that have carried the overall podcasting industry till the more recent efforts by the IAB Podcast Metrics Working Group to establish v.1 and, more recently IAB v.2 Podcast Metrics Standards.

The thought is to create an industry group that can collaborate to create more standards in the industry around advertising formats, best practices around dynamic ad insertion, and programmatic ad buying.   Large brands and agencies need some whitepapers with examples of successful advertising campaigns.

As host/talent read ad spots converge more with programmatic buying platforms, we will see revenue grow in the podcasting medium.

We must also keep working on audio-playing client-side metrics to realize the complete listening picture from downloaded podcast audio files.

This new unnamed podcast industry association would enable everyone to come together around growing the listening side of the podcasting industry with the potential of co-op online and offline marketing and promotion.

I have a proposed name for the new association, and that might be “Professional Podcast Association” (PPA) or “Global Podcast Association” (GPA).  Please let me know if you have any other ideas about this proposal – rob.greenlee at gmail dot com.

Podcasting Metrics Debate moves to War of Words with Public Radio

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Some podcasting platform players are getting all upset with many large Public Radio groups putting out Podcasting Measurement Specs that give the impression to some that they are declaring war on the long established podcasting space.

“I don’t entirely agree they are “Declaring War on Podcasting Space“.

We just need to agreed on podcasting metric standard fast via IAB Podcast Working Group or this type of stuff will keep happening out of frustration.

“No one can own this podcasting standard.”

They did put it out public and, whether right or wrong, it is a reality that many in the podcasting space do not see consistency in metrics in the podcasting space.

“This public radio doc is a symptom of the problem and not the problem.”

We all know what needs to happen (RadioInk) to avoid this and keep it out of the press. Declaring it a war just brings more negative attention to the problem that does exists that is being referred to as the “Wild West”.

Here are my thoughts on the above topic with the help of Elsie and Jessica of ShePodcasts.com