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

I’ve spent most of my career living at the intersection of podcast creators, platforms, and distribution shifts. I’ve watched “radio becomes podcasting,” “podcasting become integrated into listening and viewing apps,” and “those apps become more algorithmic-based.”

As 2026 unfolds, I see the next reshuffle getting clearer by the month.

RSS-based Distribution Takes Backseat

YouTube is becoming the top of the creator funnel. RSS for mainly audio, but video could be coming to RSS again soon making it the most important third distribution pathways.

That’s not a knock on RSS. It’s actually a compliment, but the podcasting via RSS industry needs to act fast as we have seen iHeartMedia recently announce support for video via RSS. This could be just the beginning, but Apple Podcasts really holds the keys to unlocking video podcast via RSS again.

The funnel is moving upstream to video

The creator journey is increasingly starting in a place where discovery is native, friction is low, and context is immediate. That’s video.

YouTube has become the default “proof of life or human” place for a show as Live shows become that PROOF. It’s where audiences can instantly sample personality, credibility, chemistry, and production value in seconds. It’s where clips or shorts of human created content travel, but clips are becoming more AI generated. It’s where search and recommendations can do the early real connection and trust-building work for you before anyone ever commits to subscribing.

In the past, you could launch audio-first and gradually build momentum across Apple Podcasts and Spotify with consistency and a decent hook. In 2026, the reality is harsher:

New shows will often need to prove themselves on YouTube before they have much of a chance building a meaningful audio-only audience.

Not because audio is dead—but because discovery has changed to prioritize contents ability to hook and hold on to audience attention or watch and listening time.

Audio-only will still be huge… but for a smaller number of big shows grabbing a huge percentage of the available audio listeners.

Let me be clear: RSS audio isn’t going away. Audio still wins in the home, car, on walks, in earbuds at work, and during daily routines. The audience behavior is real, and the habit is deeply embedded.

But the audio “audience gravity” is concentrating into a smaller number of popular legacy audio podcasts, while the new entry point of priority is creating a video show.

In 2026, I expect audio-only shows via RSS to maintain large audiences primarily among a smaller group of already-popular programs—the brands people already know, the legacy hits, and the breakout franchises that have become cultural defaults.

That doesn’t mean new audio shows can’t win. It means the path to winning is changing and is increasingly connected with video too.

RSS becomes the reliable secondary distribution pathway

Here’s the part many people miss: RSS is still the cleanest, most durable distribution layer in media. It’s portable. It’s open. It’s composable. It’s the pathway that can power hundreds of endpoints or consumption apps without locking a creator into one platform’s business logic.

What’s happening is that RSS is shifting into a role that looks more like this:

• YouTube drives discovery and “first exposure” and creative discipline to wins with the a
  
• RSS supports loyal consumption, portability, and long-term ownership
  
• Multi-platform publishing becomes standard, not optional

Creators who understand this will stop treating RSS as the “main stage” and start treating it as the infrastructure—the thing that ensures their show exists everywhere their audience wants it.

Video returns to RSS, but through streaming tech

One of the most interesting developments I expect to accelerate is video coming back to RSS again—but not in the old “download a massive video file” way.

The future looks more like streaming:

• HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) becomes a more common delivery method for video
  
• Feeds expand into separate audio and video RSS feeds
  
• More platforms and apps begin to support (or re-support) video feeds as streaming becomes easier and more efficient

In other words: RSS evolves from “just downloads” into a smarter routing layer for audio and video.

That matters because it creates a bridge between the algorithmic world (YouTube) and the owned/distributed world (RSS). It gives creators options. It reduces dependency. It increases resilience.

What creators should do now

If you’re launching or rebooting a show heading into 2026, I’d simplify your strategy to this:

1. Lead with video for discovery. Design your show so it’s instantly watchable and clip-friendly.
   
2. Publish audio via RSS for loyalty. Make it easy for fans to consume anywhere.
   
3. Prepare for a dual-feed future. Plan for separate audio/video feeds and a workflow that supports both.
   
4. Assume multi-platform is the default. Your “show” is the format; platforms are the outlets.

The creators who win in 2026 won’t be the ones arguing “video vs audio.” They’ll be the ones building a system where video finds the audience and RSS keeps the relationship.

And that’s the real shift: discovery is becoming more platform-driven, but trust and retention still belong to the creators who distribute intelligently.

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.