Rob Greenlee

Why “Fringe” Was the Wrong Word and What I Actually Meant About Podcasting 2.0

By Rob Greenlee

This article provides context about my comments on New Media Show episode 660 with Libsyn CEO Brendan Monaghan, where we discussed Podcasting 2.0, RSS tag adoption, and the gap between innovation and mainstream platform implementation.

During my recent interview conversation with the Libsyn CEO, I used the word “fringe” when discussing Podcasting 2.0 RSS extension tag ideas. That comment in an extended audio clip was played and discussed on “Podnews Weekly Review“, and understandably, it raised concerns in parts of the podcasting 2.0 community, including Dave Jones and Adam Curry on the Podcasting 2.0 podcast. Let me say this clearly. That was not the right word for me to use, and I regret saying it that way.

Not because I am backing away from the broader point I was trying to make, but because the word itself does not reflect how I actually view the work happening in the Podcasting 2.0 and open RSS ecosystem.

The comment came out quickly in a live discussion and did not carry the full context I intended.

What I was trying to describe is something I have repeatedly seen said over the past two decades working with large platforms, hosting companies, and media organizations: there is a real difference between something that is not widely adopted yet and something that is not valuable.

Podcasting 2.0 Innovation Has Real Value

Podcasting 2.0 innovations are valuable. RSS namespace expansion, new tags, and experimentation around monetization, identity, transcripts, funding, and distribution all matter. This is where much of the real innovation in podcasting is happening.

At the same time, many of these capabilities have been around for several years, in some cases for close to five years. That historical context matters. My comment was not about the value of the ideas themselves. It was about the pace and pattern of adoption, especially among larger platforms.

When I used the word “fringe,” I was referring to the broader set of emerging and evolving tag ideas within the Podcasting 2.0 initiative.

There are many tags and concepts at different stages of maturity, market fit, timing, and implementation. Not all of them have broad agreement or adoption, even within standards-focused efforts like the Podcast Standards Project. From a product and platform perspective, this creates a spectrum of adoption rather than one unified standard that everyone has fully embraced.

What I Was Trying to Say

What I meant is that market fit and timing play a major role in what gets adopted at scale. Larger podcasting platforms tend to move more deliberately. Their decisions are shaped by user experience, engineering resources, monetization models, product stability, support complexity, and business priorities.

That often means only a subset of new capabilities gets integrated into mainstream products at any given time.

That has been the pattern over the past several years.

But it is also important to say this pattern is changing.

Momentum Started Very Slow, But Is Building

Over the past year or so, we have started to see real momentum around some Podcasting 2.0 tags and capabilities. More platforms are experimenting. More tools are supporting them. More creators are becoming aware of what is possible and how these features can be used in real workflows.

That has been great to see.

I believe we will continue to see more adoption of certain RSS tags as platforms, tools, and creators find clearer ways to integrate them into everyday use.

Some Tags Are Seeing More Adoption

You can already see this progression in parts of the ecosystem.

Tags like transcript, chapters, and person have seen meaningful adoption because they provide immediate and understandable value. The Alternative Enclosure tag is being more widely adopted across platforms, too. They improve accessibility, discovery, context, and creator attribution.

The funding tag has gained traction within parts of the ecosystem, especially among creators and platforms exploring alternative monetization models. The value tag, which supports value-for-value and streaming payment models, has been adopted within specific apps and communities, though it has struggled more recently and has not yet become mainstream across larger platforms.

Other tags and ideas are still at an earlier stage. Some are being tested. Some are evolving. Some are still looking for the right use case that will drive broader adoption.

That is what I meant by a spectrum of innovation.

Innovation and Adoption Are Not the Same Thing

Podcasting operates across two layers simultaneously.

There is an innovation layer, where developers, independent platforms, and forward-thinking creators create and test new ideas. Then there is a platform layer, where those ideas are evaluated, prioritized, supported, and integrated into products used by millions of people. The gap between those two layers is where much of the tension comes from.

I have seen this pattern many times. Podcasting itself began outside the mainstream.

Mobile listening took time to become the default. Video podcasting has gone through multiple cycles before finding its current role. Programmatic advertising in audio took years to mature. Innovation usually moves faster than adoption. Adoption follows when user demand, product fit, creator benefit, and business alignment come together.

That is where many Podcasting 2.0 capabilities have been.

My View of Podcasting 2.0 and the Podcast Standards Project

I also want to be clear that Podcasting 2.0 and the Podcast Standards Project are not the same thing. They overlap in some areas, but they do not necessarily embrace every tag or idea in the same way.

That is part of the larger point

When standards-oriented efforts evaluate which capabilities to support, it shows that this is not simply a question of innovation versus resistance. It is about maturity, usefulness, interoperability, timing, and market fit. That is the context I was trying to convey, though I did not do so well at the time.

I Respect the Podcasting 2.0 Community

So when I used the word “fringe,” I was trying to describe how some organizations have historically perceived ideas that had not yet reached scale or product integration. But I understand how that word sounded dismissive of Podcasting 2.0, and that is not how I really see it.

I respect and appreciate the innovation and work happening through PodcastIndex.org, Podcasting 2.0, and the broader open podcasting community, including the work and advocacy of Adam Curry, Dave Jones, Daniel J. Lewis, and many others.

The opportunity now is to build on the momentum emerging and move the most valuable ideas toward broader adoption. That means making these capabilities easier to use, improving listener experiences, aligning them with sustainable business models, and demonstrating clear value at scale.

That is how innovation moves from experimentation into everyday use.

My Role in the Conversation

I do not want to frame this as one side versus another. I am focused on helping connect what is being built with what is actually being adopted and used at scale.

That is the conversation we are having every week on the “New Media Show“. Join us LIVE on Weds, 3 pm PST/6 pm EST, or on demand in all the podcast apps and live on YouTube.com/@robgreenlee, LinkedIn.com, Facebook.com, and X.com

So, yes, I regret the word “Fringe” I used. But I stand by the broader point that there has been a gap between innovation and adoption in podcasting over the past several years.

The good news is that momentum is building, and that gap is starting to close. That is where the real opportunity is for all of us in this industry.

About the Author
Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and Chair, a global new media leader who bridges podcasting’s human roots with its AI-driven future. As founder of Trust Factor Lab and host of the “New Media Show” and “Spoken Human”, Rob helps creators start, grow, monetize, and future-proof their content. He’s held leadership roles at Microsoft, Spreaker, Libsyn, StreamYard, and PodcastOne, and serves as Chairperson of the Podcast Hall of Fame. Learn more at RobGreenlee.com and join the Trust Factor Lab Creator/Podcast Services.

Personal note: I used AI tools to help organize this article and hand-edited it; the views, clarifications, responsibility, and industry perspective are mine. I have been working in podcasting and platform adoption for more than two decades, and this article reflects my own position. The original word choice was mine, and so is the clarification.

The Evolution of Digital Media and the Creator Economy (With “Your Brand Amplified” Host, Anika Jackson)

By Rob Greenlee

I’ve been around digital media long enough to be skeptical of the phrase “this changes everything.” Most things do not. They repeat, evolve, and come back in new packaging.

But every so often, you can feel the real shift. Not because a new app launches, but because audience behavior changes, distribution changes, and the business model underneath it all gets rewritten.

That’s why I’m excited for this conversation with Anika Jackson below. We’re going to unpack what’s truly evolving in digital media right now, what’s repeating from the past, and what creators need to do to stay in control as the creator economy becomes more platform-driven, more video-driven, and more AI-accelerated.

I’ve watched the cycles, and I’ve lived the transitions

My career started in marketing, radio, and customer acquisition. Early on, I saw that the internet was not just a new way to distribute content, but a new opportunity for content marketing. It was a direct channel for customer or audience relationships. When creators can build a direct connection with an audience, content stops being “promotion” and becomes the bridge that creates trust, loyalty, and momentum.

That belief is what pulled me from traditional radio into podcasting and platform work. I have spent years inside the infrastructure of media and creator ecosystems, and I have also built independently as a creator and strategist. That combination gives you a clearer view of what is hype and what is structural.

Media is no longer about categories; it’s about direct community relationship building

Radio, podcasting, streaming, and video on many platforms like YouTube, Shorts, and other social content in text/images. Those used to feel like separate lanes. Now they overlap constantly. A “podcast” might be an audio and video feed, a YouTube show, a short-form clip engine, a newsletter, and a community touchpoint all at once.

Audiences do not wake up thinking, “I’m going to consume a podcast today.” They wake up wanting something that helps by sharing inspiration and opportunities for life improvement, entertains, or just emotionally connects. They will take it in the format that fits the moment.

Creators who win are the ones who can package the same core value across multiple formats without losing their voice.

Video podcasting is not new; it’s a comeback with better delivery infrastructure

Here is the part that gets lost in today’s industry debates. Video has been part of podcasting since the earliest days on Apple Podcasts. Major media companies distributed video via RSS for many of the early years of Podcasting, then the medium prioritized audio. There were media startups and major media networks built around RSS video-first and video-only shows long before the current hot trend of “video podcasting” became a newer catchphrase increasingly linked to video streaming, not downloads.

So when Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify push deeper into video via a streaming rather than a download model, I do not see much new. I see a return, upgraded with modern streaming, modern ad systems, and better discovery mechanics.

What has changed is the platform incentive. Video produces stronger discovery signals, deeper measurement, and more automated monetization options. That is why it is accelerating again.

AI is both an accelerant and a mirror

AI is the biggest accelerant we have ever seen in content creation, and it also acts like a mirror. It amplifies what is already true.

If you have a clear point of view, AI helps you move faster and scale formats. If you do not, it helps you produce more volume, but it still lacks meaning.

The creators who thrive will be the ones who use AI as an extension of human judgment and creativity, not as a replacement for it. I also see real upside here for creators with disabilities and for solo creators with limited budgets. AI can expand presence and production capability in ways that used to require full teams.

The real fight is ownership

As AI gets better, the most important question becomes: who owns your digital self?

Your voice, your likeness, your archive, your back catalog, your distribution access. If you do not actively claim ownership and set boundaries, platforms and tools will gladly define them for you.

Creators need to think like asset owners now, not just content producers. Control of IP and distribution options is what protects your future opportunities.

The consistency problem still matters more than the tech

One truth has not changed. Most shows do not last.

Creators burn out because the show is isolated from a larger mission or business outcome. When a show is connected to a bigger purpose, your content becomes an engine. It feeds your brand, your offers, your community, your partnerships, and your long-term momentum.

That is why strategy matters as much as production.

What’s next is informed flexibility

The next few years will be messy in a productive way.

AI will accelerate everything. Video will keep pushing discovery. Platforms will keep tightening control. Monetization will keep shifting.

The creators who win will not be the ones who perfectly predict the future. They will be the ones who stay observant, test intelligently, protect ownership, and keep their work anchored in something human: trust, connection, clarity, and creative intent.

About the Author
Rob Greenlee is a Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and global new media leader who bridges podcasting’s roots with its AI-driven future. As founder of Trust Factor Lab and host of the “New Media Show” and “Spoken Human”, Rob helps creators start, grow, monetize, and future-proof their content. He’s held leadership roles at Microsoft, Spreaker, Libsyn, StreamYard, and PodcastOne, and serves as Chairperson of the Podcast Hall of Fame. Learn more at RobGreenlee.com, NewMediaShow.com, and join the Trust Factor Lab Creator/Podcast Services.

Apple Podcasts Officially Embraces Video Podcasts Again

By Rob Greenlee – Get Help Rebooting or Starting a New Show Podcast here

I am very happy, and I want to congratulate the Apple Podcasts team on choosing an innovative path to better embrace video, which was very much needed in the market. Yet at the same time, it created another point of conflict with many who view all podcasting as RSS-based, as this new video deployment aligns only slightly with open RSS standards.

It’s true that Apple helped lead the early RSS-based podcasting era with an iTunes namespace extension on top of RSS that included support for video downloads via RSS for many years, along with audio, but Apple also walked away from video discovery in the Podcasts app long ago.

Over time, Apple’s UI and UX treated video like a second-class citizen. Playback behavior and product emphasis clearly catered to audio-first listeners, while video became effectively undiscoverable for mainstream users.

That Video Vacuum at Apple Podcasts Mattered

“Apple’s decision not to actively promote video in its directory experience gave Spotify and YouTube years of runway to become the default destinations for video podcasts. And to be fair, when video creators first wanted free hosting, YouTube was the obvious winner. Podcasting began as an audio and video medium, but creator behavior followed distribution incentives, and the biggest video incentive lived outside Apple’s ecosystem: free file-hosting at YouTube.“

Now, Apple is clearly re-entering the video conversation with a more modern, competitive approach that uses a technical revenue model based on advertising, without Apple getting into the advertising business, which it has historically failed at. Integrated video inside the Podcasts app, powered by HLS, HTTP Live Streaming. Apple says this new experience will let audiences switch seamlessly between listening and watching, go full-screen horizontally, and download videos for offline viewing.

Here’s the tradeoff. Apple is not extending this upgrade through the open RSS model in a way that strengthens the broader ecosystem. Instead, it’s leaning into an API based publishing workflow that requires an Apple Podcasts Connect API key and a participating hosting provider to deliver HLS video. That’s a meaningful step toward platform-controlled syndication, not open distribution.

The Bigger Issue: Two Video Podcasting Systems Now Exist in Apple Podcasts

Apple is effectively creating, or accelerating, a split reality.

Legacy RSS video, MP4 enclosures. Still possible, still supported. Apple explicitly says video podcasts using standard RSS feeds remain available to all creators through many hosting providers.
New HLS integrated streaming video via API publishing. A higher quality, more native Apple experience, but currently gated through a short list of participating hosting partners and an API key workflow.

This is where confusion explodes across the industry. Audio and video are increasingly treated as separate syndication protocols and upload workflows, depending on the platform, including a third option: direct video upload to Spotify and YouTube. These two platforms also support API-based video podcast publishing from a variety of podcasting hosting platforms today.

This complexity makes distribution management harder for creators to understand and manage, and it does not advance the open RSS model. If anything, it nudges podcasting toward an optional future without RSS. It does offer a video path for creators to the three big video platforms – YouTube, Spotify, and now Apple Podcasts.

And if Apple really wanted to support a future-proof open ecosystem, it could have embraced the Podcasting 2.0 standards track, specifically the Alternative Enclosures specification, so creators could cleanly support audio and video with HLS in a single RSS feed across apps. Instead, we’re seeing the gravitational pull toward platform APIs grow stronger for publishing on these big platforms.

Partnerships, four launch partners are a narrow funnel

Apple says HLS video distribution will be supported at launch by four primary partners: Acast, ART19 (Amazon), Omny Studio (iHeart/Triton), and Simplecast (SiriusXM Media and AdsWizz).

The Top 3 Largest Audio Podcast Hosting platforms – (1) Spotify for Creators (may never be), (2) Spreaker, (3) Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Podbean, Blubrry, and Megaphone (may never be) are not on the partner list yet.

I hope Apple expands quickly beyond these initial partners, not just for more options, but because limiting HLS video enablement to a handful of large players risks putting many hosting platforms at a competitive disadvantage. That’s not a small ripple. It could also reshape where creators host audio, too, if video becomes a key first driver expectation.

Apple’s hosting provider directory is creating unnecessary confusion

On Apple’s Podcast hosting providers directory page, most providers are currently marked as Not offered for Video, while those four launch partners are marked Offered.

The problem is that many hosts do support video distribution today via a video-only RSS feed and an MP4 enclosure. Apple even acknowledges separately that RSS video remains available through many providers, yet those hosting providers are shown on the partners page as not supporting video in the Apple Podcasts directory platform.

So the directory experience, as currently presented, risks misleading creators into thinking that video podcasts aren’t supported unless they use one of the four big company partner hosting platforms, when Apple really means that the new HLS-integrated video workflow is currently limited to those 4 participating partners.

Apple Can Fix This Simply By Clarifying It’s Messaging

– Video HLS Streaming Enabled, and Video via RSS MP4 enclosure

– Or a note that the Video column refers to HLS publishing eligibility, not RSS video capability.

– The above clarification would prevent a lot of unnecessary churn for podcast hosting companies.

Monetization, A New Lever, But Also A New Tollbooth

Apple is pitching creator control and new monetization upside, including dynamic insertion of video ads, including DAI host-read, and baked-in host-reads will still be allowed. Apple also says it won’t charge hosting providers or creators to distribute content on Apple Podcasts, whether via RSS, MP3, or HLS video.

But Apple will charge participating ad networks an impression-based fee for delivering dynamic ads in HLS video starting later this year. That’s a big signal. Even if Apple doesn’t charge creators directly, Apple is positioning itself inside the video ad delivery chain.

What I’m watching next

If Apple is serious about embracing video again, the next moves matter more

– Expand HLS video support beyond four partners quickly
– Clarify the provider podcast partner directory so creators understand RSS video versus HLS video
– Support open standards pathways like Podcasting 2.0 (Podcast Standards Project) “Alternative Enclosure” tag, not just platform APIs for media file publishing, so podcasting doesn’t drift further away from RSS
– Make video discovery inside the app actually discoverable and competitive with the other major video platforms, in the area of UX/UI labeling and search discovery.

Because the real story isn’t that Apple added video. The real story is that Apple is choosing how video enters the podcasting ecosystem, and that choice influences whether podcasting stays open with RSS or becomes an API-based platform-syndicated media model, with RSS as a legacy, declining on-ramp.

About the Author
Rob Greenlee is a Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and global new media leader who bridges podcasting’s roots with its AI-driven future. As founder of Trust Factor Lab and host of the “New Media Show” and “Spoken Human”, Rob helps creators start, grow, monetize, and future-proof their content. He’s held leadership roles at Microsoft, Spreaker, Libsyn, StreamYard, and PodcastOne, and serves as Chairperson of the Podcast Hall of Fame. Learn more at RobGreenlee.com, NewMediaShow.com and join the Trust Factor Lab Creator/Podcast Services.

The Truth About Where Podcasting and New Media Really Stand Today

By Rob Greenlee

The truth about podcasting and new media today is clearer yet harder than ever: we’ve crossed a point of no return.

The center of gravity has fully shifted away from legacy media and distribution, old gatekeepers, and the idea that traditional media is the ultimate destination for new media creators.

In reality, the momentum has moved in the opposite direction: legacy media platforms are trying to catch up to the digital creator economy, not the other way around.

Spend a day inside the modern media ecosystem, and you’ll see something undeniable. Audiences now consume content on living-room streaming devices, social interest media platforms, and especially YouTube. They want interactivity, presence, personality, and the feeling of connection that just doesn’t exist in passive formats like cable or traditional TV and broadcast radio. Viewers and listeners want to talk back, participate, react, and feel part of a community. That’s where trust is being built today, and it’s happening at a massive scale.

The real business model of new media creators and podcasting has also changed. The show itself is no longer the final product, it’s the engine. A powerful engine, yes, but one that drives something larger: brands, products, events, memberships, and communities built on trust, interest, and value to the individual. Advertising is still a part of the picture, but it’s no longer the main revenue stream. The most successful creators understand this, and they’re using their shows to build fully formed businesses that extend far beyond creating media content.

At the same time, AI is rushing in fast, bringing both excitement and anxiety. Some people have already replaced their podcast listening time with conversational AI for value and help with life challenges. Others are using AI tools for research, prep, editing, and even creating whole new formats that didn’t exist before. Whether we like it or not, AI is publishing thousands of episodes a week now. It’s here, and it’s reshaping the edges of the digital medium.

“For human creators, this is a moment to double down on what AI can’t replicate: lived experience, emotional nuance, personality, and authenticity. That’s where the long-term value lies.“

The bigger question is whether the long standing traditional business model of podcasting is in decline or broken. The answer depends on your perspective. If you’re dependent entirely on ads and operating with legacy-era cost structures, then yes, the economics will feel like they’re collapsing. But if you’re approaching podcasting the way the modern creator class does lean, diversified, platform-native, and audience-first, there’s more opportunity today than ever.

This shift poses a challenge for legacy traditional broadcast media, but not an impossible one. To adapt, they must rethink the most fundamental assumptions they’ve held for many decades. They need to move away from exclusivity and closed systems and meet audiences where they actually are. They must build brands around real people, not institutions. They need to treat YouTube and social interest platforms as core distribution, not secondary windows. And they must embrace AI strategically not as an entire replacement for human creators, but as a force multiplier that can open up new formats that humans would not create and build efficiencies in the creation process.

Most importantly, legacy cable and radio broadcast media must reclaim the value of trust. Trust and relevance is the currency of the modern new creator economy. It’s personal, it’s intimate, and it’s earned one episode at a time. No amount of technology or scale replaces that.

“The future of podcasting and new media is hybrid, open, global, personality-driven, and increasingly shaped by AI. But at the heart of all of it remains the thing that has always mattered most: the human voice, mattering to your community and the human story, and the human connection.“

And that’s the part of the medium that isn’t going anywhere.

About the Author
Rob Greenlee is a Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and global new media leader who bridges podcasting’s roots with its AI-driven future. As founder of Trust Factor Lab and host of the “New Media Show” , and “Spoken Human”, Rob helps creators start, grow, monetize, and future-proof their content. He’s held leadership roles at Microsoft, Spreaker, Libsyn, StreamYard and PodcastOne, and serves as Chairperson of the Podcast Hall of Fame. Learn more at RobGreenlee.com and join the Trust Factor Lab Creator/Podcast Services.