Video podcast production at Gotham Production Studios

In New Media Show #692, Rob Greenlee takes the conversation into Gotham Production Studios in New York City for an in-person discussion with co-founders Brianna Peters and Matt Peters about the changing business of video podcast production.

From a quick studio tour to a conversation about cameras, content strategy, AI, and audience relationships, this episode explores what it takes to create a show people keep coming back to.

The key question: how can creators improve video production quality, build a sustainable business, and preserve the human connection that makes podcasting valuable?

Three practical takeaways

• Build an audience: give a strong show a clear path to discovery. Matt describes using refreshed thumbnails, clips, guest appearances, and show websites to help people find and return to the full conversation.
• Earn trust: use professional production to support a recognizable human voice. Rob, Brianna, and Matt discuss authenticity, staged content, and why in-person experiences could become more valuable as AI-generated media expands.
• Grow a media business: match production decisions to your purpose, audience, resources, and goals. A corporate marketing show, an independent creator business, and a hobby podcast need different levels of investment and support.

Identify the biggest constraint on your next episode: the content, sound, lighting, editing time, or discovery. Choose one improvement you can sustain, define the result you want, and review what changes over your next four episodes. This editorial exercise draws on the discussion.

From an audio hobby to a video production business

Gotham began in 2017 with a practical problem: Matt needed a better place to record his own podcast. What started as an audio recording space grew into a service business as clients asked for help producing their shows. Brianna and Matt explain how an early webcam setup evolved into multicamera studios, with a more substantial video investment in 2019 and a shift toward brands and professional creators after the pandemic.

That change reached beyond cameras. Lighting, furniture, set design, and the in-room experience became part of the production offering. Matt explains why Gotham increasingly refers to its clients’ productions as shows and encourages businesses to consider them as part of a broader marketing strategy.

Better production, realistic budgets, and room for independent creators

Matt describes Gotham’s usual three-camera approach and why some visual effects are more practical to create in post-production than with additional camera operators. The discussion also examines the pressure created by celebrity shows and television-scale expectations. Matt worries that expensive productions can discourage people from starting; Brianna emphasizes that a strong concept and audience connection can still stand out on a smaller budget.

For creators, the question becomes how much production serves the show. Rob and his guests explore the balance between polish, accessibility, and the natural conversation that audiences associate with podcasting.

Custom sets and the next studio experience

Brianna and Matt explain the challenge of giving each show a distinctive look inside a shared studio. Small branding elements can work within existing rooms, while dedicated sets require more space and planning. They describe past custom productions and their plans for a future location with more flexible sets and space for live recordings, ticketed events, and brand activations. These are plans for Gotham’s next phase.

Strategy that fits the creator

Brianna shares her coaching approach: cut the noise from generic advice, clarify why someone is creating a show, and build actionable steps around that person’s goals. The conversation challenges the idea that one workbook, formula, or celebrity example can provide the right plan for every creator.

Matt explains Gotham’s internal approach to assessing a show and finding manageable improvements. Thumbnails, clips, websites, guest selection, and appearances on other podcasts can all play a role. Drawing on his work with Greg Fitzsimmons’ Fitzdog Radio and Sunday Papers, he describes refreshing the packaging and discovery strategy while keeping the host’s established voice.

AI and the value of being in the room

Brianna describes using AI to support operations, marketing, discoverability, and editing. She also predicts that uncertainty about synthetic and staged media could increase demand for tangible, in-person experiences. Rob connects that possibility to audience trust and the value of direct human interaction.

The discussion considers how creators can use new tools while maintaining their judgment and identity. For Gotham, that includes exploring a studio environment where recording, community, and live experiences can happen in the same place.

Solo creators, direct relationships, and sustainable support

Can one person still do it all? Matt believes there is still room for creators working with a microphone and webcam, while suggesting that outside help can relieve production bottlenecks when resources allow. Rob reflects on running New Media Show himself to understand the tools and workflows shaping the industry.

The conversation closes with the value of smaller, engaged audiences, newsletters, memberships, merchandise, and direct support. Rob and Matt also discuss their concerns about ad skipping and how AI might affect advertising models. Their broader point is to consider the relationship a show creates, alongside its reach and production quality.

Video chapters

Approximate chapter times follow the supplied video transcript’s minute markers. The separate audio edition may differ.

• 00:00 — Inside Gotham Production Studios
• 01:00 — What does a video podcast need to compete?
• 04:00 — Meet Brianna and Matt: how Gotham began
• 09:00 — Video-first clients, lighting, and set design
• 12:00 — From hobby podcasts to professional shows
• 14:00 — Multicamera production and editing decisions
• 20:00 — Branding a show inside a shared studio
• 24:00 — Flexible sets and plans for live events
• 26:00 — Television expectations and production budgets
• 32:00 — Content, coaching, and realistic creator goals
• 36:00 — AI and the future of in-person experiences
• 39:00 — AI-assisted workflows and staged content
• 42:00 — Thumbnails, clips, and audience discovery
• 45:00 — Studio rental, creative support, and show refreshes
• 49:00 — The Gotham system and content across formats
• 51:00 — Can solo creators still do it all?
• 55:00 — Direct audience relationships and smaller communities
• 58:00 — Newsletters, memberships, and audience support
• 59:00 — Ad skipping, AI, and monetization questions
• 1:01:00 — Connecting with Gotham and closing thoughts

Guest resources

Brianna Peters and Matt Peters are the co-founders of Gotham Production Studios in New York City. Brianna discusses strategy, coaching, client relationships, and business development; Matt shares his perspective on production, storytelling, editing, and show growth.

• Gotham Production Studios: explore studio options, inquire about production support, or arrange a tour.

Related New Media Show conversations

• Video podcasting costs and creator revenue with Losh Moodaley — episode 691
• Building a creator media company with Roberto Blake — episode 687

About the host and the show

Rob Greenlee hosts New Media Show and founded Trust Factor Lab. He is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee. New Media Show explores podcasting, video, AI, audience trust, and the business of creator media.

Build an audience. Earn trust. Grow a media business.

AI disclosure

AI tools helped organize and draft these show notes from the supplied episode transcript. The summary paraphrases the recorded conversation. The conversation features human host Rob Greenlee and human guests Brianna Peters and Matt Peters. The transcript also identifies an AI-generated voice introduction.

The post What Does a Video Podcast Need to Compete? At Gotham Production Studios in NYC | #692 first appeared on New Media Show.

Show notes

In New Media Show #691, Rob Greenlee and podcast sponsorship strategist Losh Moodaley examine a practical question: when does the cost of video serve the creator’s business? Their conversation connects production economics, audience relationships, sponsorships and human creativity in an AI-driven media environment.

Three practical takeaways

• Build an audience: connect platform discovery to a direct relationship. Rob and Losh discuss newsletters, websites and subscriptions as ways to reduce dependence on one distribution platform.
• Earn trust: make relevance and human connection part of the experience. Their discussion of sponsorships considers how a useful integration can serve the audience, rather than simply increasing the number of ads.
• Grow a media business: evaluate video against a defined goal and its full cost. Losh suggests considering customer acquisition and business value alongside advertising revenue and download counts.

Try this: Add up the time and money behind one episode. Choose the outcome it should support—such as a qualified inquiry, a subscription or a useful audience response—and track the available evidence over a defined period. Compare that evidence with the cost before expanding production. This is an editorial exercise, not a prediction of revenue or growth.

Who benefits from the move to video?

Losh’s article, The Price of Visibility: The Hidden Economics of Podcast Video, frames the discussion. Video can introduce a show to new people, but equipment, editing, lighting and publishing work add costs. More viewing time does not automatically produce a sustainable business for the creator.

Rob and Losh discuss changing viewing habits and the distinction between discovery, attention and commercial value. Their views on platform incentives and the future of distribution are interpretations and predictions expressed in the conversation.

Evaluate the investment around your business

Losh argues that the right decision depends on the purpose of the show. A hobby, an advertising-supported podcast and a show that supports consulting or product sales have different economics. She suggests looking at video as a possible customer-acquisition and marketing investment, rather than relying on one measure such as CPM or downloads.

The useful test is what happens after someone discovers the content. A new viewer might become a subscriber, customer, community participant or professional contact. Those outcomes need evidence; they cannot be inferred from views alone.

Build relationships and retain control

Rob and Losh discuss using websites, newsletters, subscriptions and communities to maintain direct audience relationships. They also emphasize the value of intellectual property and the risks of relying entirely on another company’s distribution rules.

The conversation considers direct brand relationships, memberships, services and experiences alongside conventional advertising. Losh questions generic sponsor integrations and discusses approaches that create a useful audience experience. These are opportunities to evaluate, not evidence of a particular show’s revenue.

Community, commerce and the audience experience

Rob describes his observations of Whatnot, including live sales, audience participation and collaborations between creators. He and Losh explore how elements of that experience might apply to other media businesses.

They also consider where the model may not fit. Some visual content loses meaning when heard without a screen. Rob explains why he has sometimes edited audio and video separately, and questions whether a single production approach serves every audience.

Measurement, AI and the human connection

The discussion moves from what audiences call a podcast to how creators evaluate attention and business outcomes. Rob speculates that AI might eventually help reconcile fragmented metrics. This is a prediction, not a claim that a reliable unified measurement system already exists.

Rob and Losh distinguish human-created work, AI-assisted human work and fully synthetic media. They explore the possibilities for new characters and experiences while returning to human connection, judgment and responsibility. Their forecasts about synthetic media should be understood as opinions about possible developments.

Build for your audience and your own goals

Losh’s closing advice emphasizes consistency, a suitable niche, understanding the audience and considering business models beyond standard advertising. Rob argues for testing whether a workflow and idea are sustainable before making a larger investment.

The central editorial takeaway is to assess what video contributes to the creator’s goals, rather than treating platform visibility as an end in itself.

Video chapters

Choose a chapter to jump within the video player. These timings follow the edited video; the separate audio edition may differ.

1. 00:00 — Who profits from video?
2. 02:14 — Meet Losh Moodaley
3. 06:22 — Demand for video and changing consumption
4. 14:19 — Production costs and revenue pressure
5. 15:13 — Video as customer acquisition
6. 20:33 — Audience relationships and ownership
7. 28:20 — HLS and distribution predictions
8. 32:54 — Host reads and sponsor integration
9. 35:47 — Direct audience support
10. 38:19 — Live commerce and creator collaboration
11. 43:08 — Different audio and video experiences
12. 50:32 — Podcast definitions and measurement
13. 53:48 — The human trust layer
14. 55:47 — Human, AI-assisted and synthetic content
15. 1:05:32 — Creative possibility and responsibility
16. 1:10:24 — Creator purpose and business goals
17. 1:14:36 — Advice for new creators
18. 1:16:59 — Connect with Losh

Guest resources

Losh Moodaley is a podcast sponsorship and brand-partnerships strategist.

• Losh Moodaley on LinkedIn
• The Price of Visibility: The Hidden Economics of Podcast Video
• Beyond the CPM

About the host and the show

Rob Greenlee hosts New Media Show and founded Trust Factor Lab. He is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee. Explore the episode library and episode newsletter.

AI disclosure

AI tools assisted with transcription, organization and editing of these show notes. The summary paraphrases the recorded conversation; the “Try this” exercise is an editorial suggestion. The episode features human host Rob Greenlee and human guest Losh Moodaley.

The post Who Profits From Video? The Real Cost of Video Podcasting | #691 first appeared on New Media Show.

WATCH OR LISTEN · EPISODE 690

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Show notes

In New Media Show #690, Rob Greenlee talks with Laura Burkhauser, CEO of Descript, about AI editing, creative direction and the decisions that make a creator’s work distinctive. The conversation asks what becomes more valuable about human judgment as production tools become more capable.

Three practical takeaways

• Build an audience: give people a recognizable perspective and a useful story. More effects or faster output do not, by themselves, give an audience a reason to return.
• Earn trust: review an automated edit for meaning and context. Laura argues that thoughtful editing can clarify a conversation; preserving authenticity still requires human decisions.
• Grow a media business: choose production work that supports the audience and business you want to build. The discussion considers community support, relevant sponsors and media that helps a professional demonstrate expertise.

Try this: Choose one repetitive editing task for AI assistance. Write down the intended story, compare the automated result with the original, and record the time saved and corrections needed before publishing. This is an editorial exercise informed by the conversation, not a promise of a particular result.

Editing as craft, and editing as a production task

Laura distinguishes between creators whose art is editing and creators whose primary art is storytelling. An experienced editor may want precise control over individual choices. A storyteller may want help removing the technical obstacles between an idea and an audience. Those needs call for different workflows.

Rob and Laura explore the shift toward directing AI tools. A useful prompt depends on knowing the intended result, communicating it clearly and judging what the tool produces. Laura’s point is that a creator’s perspective remains important even when the technical work becomes easier.

Reduce tool friction while keeping human judgment

Laura describes an approach that reduces repetitive production work while leaving the creator responsible for the vision and story. Rob connects that to his experience assembling radio programs manually and using newer editing tools.

The discussion also considers the expectations AI companies create. Claims about effortless production can overlook the creative decisions that still need attention. The practical question is which work should be automated and which choices deserve deliberate human review.

Authenticity depends on the choices behind the edit

Rob asks whether an unedited recording is necessarily more authentic than an edited conversation. Laura argues that editing can make meaning easier to understand. A close-up or reaction shot can clarify an emotional moment, provided it serves the conversation rather than changing its meaning.

They also discuss the tension between being authentic and performing authenticity online. Laura emphasizes a recognizable human presence and engagement with a community. Rob relates this to his work with Trust Factor Lab and the importance of human connection as synthetic media becomes more common.

Start creating, then learn what the business needs

Laura was a Descript customer before joining the company. Producing a podcast with a friend helped her discover that she could create and share work without first mastering a complicated production process. Her advice in the conversation is to start recording, editing and learning.

Rob and Laura question whether pressure to monetize immediately can discourage experimentation. They distinguish media sold as a product from media that supports another business, such as consulting, coaching or a founder-led company. They also consider community support and sponsorships relevant to a specific audience. These are possible models, not guaranteed outcomes.

Algorithms, attention and the next creator workflow

Laura explains her preference for intentional viewing, including turning off YouTube recommendations. Rob describes using both subscriptions and discovery. Their discussion asks what personalization systems optimize for and whether engagement alone captures a useful human outcome.

In the closing discussion, Laura outlines a direction for Descript beyond individual editing tasks: helping creators develop subject areas, build a useful content library, distribute work and learn from it. These comments describe her perspective on future development at the time of the recording, not a list of features independently verified as available today.

Video chapters

Choose a chapter to jump within the video player. These timings follow the edited video; the separate audio edition may differ.

1. 00:00 — AI workflows and the human creator
2. 03:47 — Is editing becoming directing?
3. 08:15 — Communicating a creative vision
4. 13:44 — Reducing tool friction
5. 16:46 — Authenticity and thoughtful editing
6. 26:49 — Laura's experience as a creator
7. 30:01 — Creating before expecting revenue
8. 35:33 — Community support and relevant sponsors
9. 39:35 — Intentional viewing and recommendations
10. 42:43 — Personalization and human outcomes
11. 46:22 — What comes next for Descript

Guest resources

Laura Burkhauser is the guest and Descript CEO in this episode.

• Descript
• Descript Underlord
• Laura Burkhauser on the Descript blog

About the host and the show

Rob Greenlee hosts New Media Show and founded Trust Factor Lab. He is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee. Find more conversations in the episode library or receive the episode newsletter.

AI disclosure

AI tools assisted with transcription, organization and editing of these show notes. The summary paraphrases the recorded conversation; the “Try this” exercise is an editorial suggestion. The episode features human host Rob Greenlee and human guest Laura Burkhauser.

The post How AI Is Changing the Creator Workflow | Descript CEO Laura Burkhauser #690 first appeared on New Media Show.

In New Media Show #689, I’m joined by Jim Louderback, publisher of Inside the Creator Economy and former CEO of VidCon and Revision3, to explore what the next phase of the creator economy means for people building media businesses.

Jim and I have lived through several shifts at the intersection of media and technology. This conversation connects the early days of video podcasting with today’s AI tools, changing audience habits, and the search for a lasting creator business. More ways to create and distribute content bring opportunity, but they also raise questions about attention, ownership, and trust.

Digital Jim and the Human Premium

We start with Digital Jim, the AI version of Jim that turns his human-written newsletter into short videos.

Jim explains how the team at Popcorn uses his words, an AI voice, and a visual avatar to help him reach audiences on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. He still writes the newsletter and reviews the videos before sharing them.

That experiment leads to one of the episode’s central ideas: the human premium.

Jim’s hypothesis is that, as audiences encounter more AI-generated media, they may place greater value on recognizable human voices, imperfect conversations, and experiences with real people. We discuss what that could mean for audience relationships, advertising, and in-person events.

Podcasting in a Bigger Creator Economy

We revisit Revision3, Diggnation, and the early use of short clips to introduce people to longer shows. Video podcasting and distributing a conversation in several formats have a longer history than today’s debate sometimes acknowledges.

Jim describes an audio-plus approach: people can listen when that suits them, while video creates another way to discover and experience a show. We also discuss why creators spread their work across platforms, how short-form awareness differs from monetization, and the risks of depending on one platform’s rules.

Could Personalized AI Media Disrupt YouTube

Our platform conversation moves from Netflix’s interest in creator programming to a bigger question:

What could disrupt YouTube? Jim suggests that a major technological shift, rather than another similar video service, could open the door.  His audience-of-one idea goes beyond recommending existing videos. We explore the possibility of media generated specifically for an individual, along with what Jim calls robo-social relationships with AI characters that respond to and remember their users.

We debate these predictions, including how they might compete for time people currently spend with human creators.

Your Identity and Archive Have Value

We discuss the business value of a creator’s name, image, likeness, voice, and archive. I share my experience exploring Royall.ai and receiving inquiries about using past New Media Show conversations as AI training material.

That raises questions about guest permission, licensing, tracking use, and maintaining control over future uses of a creator’s work.

Jim also describes an audio watermarking approach he has encountered, while acknowledging that he has not independently established how well it works. The discussion is about taking identity and content rights seriously as new business models emerge.

Live Shopping and the Next Media Business

Jim explains what he wants readers to get from Inside the Creator Economy: timely reporting, his interpretation of the news, and ideas they can question. We talk about the differences between email subscribers, LinkedIn newsletter subscribers, and the audience numbers platforms report.

We then explore global creator markets, Whatnot, live shopping, and the role of personality and audience participation in commerce.

TBPN’s combination of a live show, a focused audience, and widely distributed clips gives us another example to examine. We close with local AI tools and a practical encouragement from Jim: keep experimenting.

My key takeaways:

Use these tools to expand what you can create, while giving people a reason to connect with you. Your ideas, judgment, and relationships shape the value of the media business you build.

Key topics

• How Digital Jim turns a human-written newsletter into AI video
• The human premium and the value of real audience relationships
• Video podcasting’s history and an audio-plus approach
• Multi-platform distribution, short clips, and platform dependence
• Netflix, YouTube, and media generated for an audience of one
• Robo-social relationships and competition for audience attention
• Creator identity, archive licensing, AI training, and permission
• Newsletter measurement, global creator markets, and live shopping
• Whatnot, TBPN, and building a focused media business
• Local AI tools, creative judgment, and continued experimentation

Chapter timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome to New Media Show 689, and the creator reset
• 01:00 Meet Jim Louderback and watch Digital Jim
• 03:00 How Popcorn produces Jim’s AI newsletter videos
• 06:00 Bringing podcasting and the creator economy together
• 10:00 Audio plus video and reaching audiences in more formats
• 13:00 Multi-platform distribution and creator business risk
• 17:00 The human premium in an AI media world
• 24:00 Younger creators and the changing meaning of podcasting
• 27:00 AI visuals and turning audio into video experiences
• 30:00 Netflix and the value of creator programming
• 32:00 What could disrupt YouTube
• 34:00 Personalized media and the audience of one
• 37:00 Robo-social relationships and AI companions
• 43:00 Human creativity and the limits of average content
• 44:00 Royall.ai and capturing a creator’s digital identity
• 47:00 Archive licensing, AI training data, and guest permission
• 49:00 Watermarking, content control, and future use
• 53:00 Inside the Creator Economy and newsletter measurement
• 57:00 Global creator markets and live shopping
• 58:00 Whatnot, collectibles, and audience participation
• 01:02:00 TBPN, live shows, and the power of distributed clips
• 01:06:00 AI platforms, local models, and new media tools
• 01:08:00 Keep experimenting and closing thoughts

Guest Jim Louderback

Jim Louderback publishes the weekly Inside the Creator Economy newsletter and produces, curates, and moderates creator events around the world. He is the former CEO of VidCon and Revision3, and his career also includes leadership and editorial roles at Discovery Digital Networks, TechTV, and PC Magazine.

• Jim Louderback: https://louderback.com/
• About Jim: https://louderback.com/about/
• Inside the Creator Economy archive: https://louderback.com/blog/
• Subscribe to Inside the Creator Economy: https://louderback.com/subscribe-to-my-weekly-newsletter/

Host Rob Greenlee

Rob Greenlee is the founder of Trust Factor Lab, host of New Media Show, and a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and Chair. His work connects podcasting, video, creator platforms, audience trust, and the media business.

• New Media Show: https://newmediashow.com/
• New Media Show on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow
• Rob Greenlee: https://robgreenlee.com/
• Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee
• Podcast Hall of Fame: https://podcasthall.com/
• Adore Network Audio: https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-audio
• Adore Network Video: https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-video
• Apple Podcasts Audio: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
• Apple Podcasts Video: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-video/id392545647

AI disclosure

AI tools helped organize and draft these show notes from the completed Episode #689 transcript and edited the full show. Rob Greenlee retains editorial responsibility. The New Media Show is human-hosted with human guests; this episode also includes a disclosed AI-generated Digital Jim video demonstration.

The post The Creator Reset: AI, Trust and What Comes Next | Jim Louderback #689 first appeared on New Media Show.

Your podcast can be available everywhere and still be hard to find. So who controls its future: the creator, the audience, or the platform?

In New Media Show #688, Rob Greenlee welcomes back James Cridland, Editor of Podnews, co-host of the Podnews Weekly Review, and a 2026 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, for a conversation about what Podcast Week in New York City revealed about our industry.

We compare notes on the IAB Podcast Upfronts, CreatorFronts, and a very different NYC Podcast Movement. James also shares his experience at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit.

The week had plenty of energy, but it also exposed real differences in how creators, platforms, and advertisers see podcasting’s future.

Podcast Movement’s Terminal 5 venue brought challenges around meetings, exhibitor space, and crowding.

James argues that the headphone-based sessions worked better than expected. We also reflect on Tom Webster’s tribute to Todd Cochrane and why the industry still needs people willing to speak up when something is wrong.

Podcasting has expanded its distribution. That doesn’t mean it controls where people discover shows.

Sounds Profitable: Tom Webster’s presentation leads us into YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix, where podcasts compete with much more than other podcasts. James Cridland also cautions against confusing whether someone has ever used a platform with where they regularly listen.

A major part of our conversation is measuring media consumption.

James challenges the IAB’s approach to audio and video, while making another important point: tearing down the download without a workable replacement can undermine the business we already have.

James offers a proposal worth discussing: share advertising revenue with podcast apps that provide useful consumption data.

James argues that apps need a financial reason to invest in discovery and better listening experiences. I raise the concern about taking revenue from creators, and we explore whether growing listening could make that trade worthwhile.

Rob and James also discuss open RSS, HLS video, and Podcasting 2.0 as ways to expand access. That includes discovery built around places and local interests, along with AI production tools that help humans make better content.

Adding video should not make the audio listener a second-class audience. The conversation still needs to work when someone cannot see the screen.

The question is how we keep podcasting open to a wide range of voices while competing in a much bigger media world. More reach matters. So do audience trust, creator choice, and a business that can sustain the work.

Key Topics

– Podcast Week NYC: the business summit, upfronts, CreatorFronts, and Podcast Movement
– Remembering Todd Cochrane and the value of speaking up
– Platform discovery versus open podcast distribution
– Audio and video measurement, advertiser trust, and the download
– James’s proposal to share revenue with podcast apps
– Netflix, YouTube, and rising video production expectations
– Open RSS, HLS, and location-based podcast discovery
– AI production assistance and respecting the audio listener

Guest: James Cridland

Editor of Podnews, co-host of the Podnews Weekly Review, and 2026 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee.

– Podnews Daily Newsletter and Podcast: https://podnews.net
– Podnews Weekly Review: https://weekly.podnews.net

Host: Rob Greenlee

– New Media Show on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow
– Rob Greenlee: https://robgreenlee.com
– Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee
– Podcast Hall of Fame Inductee & Chair: https://podcasthall.com
– New Media Show: https://NewMediaShow.com
– Adore Network Audio: https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-audio
– Adore Network Video: https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-video
– Apple Podcasts Audio: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
– Apple Podcasts Video: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-video/id392545647

AI Disclosure

AI tools helped organize and draft these show notes from the completed Episode #688 transcript, and I hand-edited for clarity and accuracy. The conversation and perspectives are human-led, and Rob Greenlee retains editorial responsibility. The New Media Show is human-hosted with human guests.

The post Podcasting’s Identity Crisis: Who Controls Podcasts Now? | James Cridland #688 first appeared on New Media Show.

Getting views, streams, and downloads is not the same as building a business. Subscribers aren’t automatically customers, and a successful YouTube channel doesn’t necessarily mean you have built something sustainable.

In New Media Show #687, Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee talks with Creator, Educator, Author, and Entrepreneur Roberto Blake, founder of Awesome Creator Academy, about what comes after becoming a content creator and why more creators need to think of themselves as independent media companies rather than defining themselves by one format or platform.

Roberto argues that being a podcaster, YouTuber, streamer, or blogger is increasingly just a distribution choice. The bigger issue is the value you create, the audience relationship you build, and what you actually own.

We get into the shift from audio-first thinking to broader creator media, why professionalism is more about preparation and performance than polished production, and how AI is changing the economics of being a creator.

Roberto sees some of the strongest uses of AI in the operational work around content, including research, data analysis, transcription, organization, editing workflows, and other tasks that can free creators to spend more time on judgment, ideas, and relationships.

A major part of the conversation is about turning attention into a real business.

Roberto describes his framework as “reach, reputation, revenue,” or in a business context, “traffic, trust, transaction.” Getting attention is only the beginning. The real value comes from earning trust and then creating products, services, memberships, intellectual property, or other business models around that relationship.

We also talk about what creators should own. That includes their brand, intellectual property, expertise, direct audience relationships, and the parts of the business that can survive changes at YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or any other platform.

Roberto breaks creator businesses into three broad paths: entertainer, lifestyle brand, and thought leader, with different revenue and growth opportunities for each.

The conversation goes much deeper into AI, human creativity, likeness rights, AI labeling, and synthetic AI media.

Why Roberto believes the bigger risk isn’t simply AI-generated entertainment, but the potential misuse of synthetic media by institutions or people trying to manipulate audiences.

The larger point is simple:

Creators should stop thinking only about the next piece of content and start thinking about what they are building around it.

Key Topics:
– Moving from content creator to independent media company
– Why podcasting, YouTube, and streaming are becoming distribution choices
– Audio-first versus audio-only thinking
– Professionalism versus production polish
– Using AI for creator operations, research, editing, and workflow
– Reach, reputation, and revenue
– Traffic, trust, and transaction
– Building direct audience relationships
– Owning your brand, expertise, and intellectual property
– Entertainer, lifestyle brand, and thought-leader business models
– Building revenue beyond platform advertising
– Why taste and personality may become more important as AI lowers the skill barrier
– Human authenticity and real-world connection
– AI likeness, voice cloning, and long-term IP value
– AI labeling and the risks of treating every use of AI the same way
– Awesome Creator Academy and Roberto’s approach to creator growth

Guest: Roberto Blake
Creator, entrepreneur, educator, and founder of Awesome Creator Academy

Roberto Blake
https://robertoblake.com

Awesome Creator Academy
https://www.awesomecreatoracademy.com

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@robertoblake

Host: Rob Greenlee

• New Media Show on YouTube
  https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow
• Rob Greenlee
  https://robgreenlee.com
• Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee
• Podcast Hall of Fame
  https://podcasthall.com
• New Media Show
  https://NewMediaShow.com
• Adore Network Audio
  https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-audio/
• Adore Network Video
  https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-video/
• Apple Podcasts Audio
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
• Apple Podcasts Video
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-video/id392545647

AI Disclosure

AI tools helped organize and edit this episode and create the above show notes from the completed Episode #687 transcript. The conversation, perspectives, editorial direction, and final editing were performed, and responsibility for the episode remains human-led. The New Media Show is human-hosted.

The post Don’t Just Make Videos: Build a Creator Media Company | Roberto Blake #687 first appeared on New Media Show.

Podcast media creator publishers may already have more revenue opportunity than they realize. The challenge is not always finding more listeners. It can be understanding what inventory is actually available to sell, what to sell, whether campaigns will deliver, and where revenue is being lost.

In this episode #686 of the New Media Show, Rob Greenlee talks with Sean Howard, CEO and co-founder of Flightpath.fm, about the growing complexity behind new media podcast advertising and why better forecasting, campaign management, publisher data, and revenue optimization are becoming more important.

Sean explains how Flightpath grew out of a problem he experienced from both sides of the business. As an ad buyer, he found that publishers often did not know how much inventory they really had available. As a publisher, he saw the same problem from the other side: uncertainty about whether sold campaigns would actually deliver. Flightpath was built to bring those pieces together through traffic management, prediction, pacing, and cross-platform revenue visibility.

The conversation also gets into dynamic ad insertion and the value of the podcast back catalog. Sean argues that publishers relying too heavily on baked-in ads may be leaving significant revenue on the table because listeners keep consuming older episodes long after release.

Rob and Sean also discuss a larger issue facing content creator publishers today: platform dependence.

As podcast companies expand across multiple hosting platforms, YouTube, Spotify, video, HLS, and other distribution systems, publishers need better access to their own data and a clearer understanding of the business risk that comes with relying too heavily on any one platform.

The bigger question is whether the next stage of media and podcast revenue growth may come not only from finding more audience, but from better understanding and monetizing the audience publishers already have.

Discussion Highlights
– Hidden revenue in existing podcast inventory
– Why forecasting and campaign delivery remain difficult
– Dynamic ad insertion and back-catalog monetization
– Frequency capping, pacing, and ad performance
– Publisher ownership and access to data
– Platform risk and using multiple hosting platforms
– YouTube, Spotify, HLS, and video monetization
– AI and revenue optimization
– Flightpath’s role as a publisher intelligence and traffic management layer
– Why better data can help sales and operations make better decisions

Key Topic Timestamps:
00:00 Hidden revenue opportunities publishers may already have
01:00 Sean Howard and what Flightpath does
03:00 Why Flightpath was built around forecasting and campaign delivery
05:00 Fragmented platforms and the growing complexity of monetization
07:30 HLS, open standards, and the return of video podcasting
11:00 Audio and video advertising collide
12:30 Using publisher data to identify campaign and platform problems
15:00 Why publishers need access to their own data
17:00 Dynamic ad insertion and the untapped value of the back catalog
19:00 Spotify, YouTube, and changing control over ad inventory
21:00 Choosing a hosting platform is becoming a business risk decision
23:00 Why publishers may need to work across multiple platforms
26:00 Measuring hosting platform performance and revenue impact
27:30 Publisher autonomy and Flightpath’s platform strategy review
31:00 Forecasting, pacing, and Flightpath’s Revenue Optimizer
35:30 Where AI fits into forecasting and sales recommendations
38:00 Podcast platforms evolving into intelligence and decision systems
39:00 Using publisher data with AI and LLMs
43:00 Advertising, subscriptions, Spotify, and YouTube
44:00 Apple video, Spotify, and the HLS opportunity
46:00 Podcasting becomes a more professional media business
48:00 Why publishers need an independent intelligence layer
50:00 Who Flightpath is built for
53:00 Flightpath onboarding and supported platform integrations
55:00 Closing thoughts and where to learn more

Guest
Sean Howard
CEO and Co-Founder, Flightpath
https://flightpath.fm
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanhoward

Host
Rob Greenlee

• Rob Greenlee Website: https://RobGreenlee.com

Listen and Watch

• New Media Show
  https://NewMediaShow.com
• Adore Network Audio
  https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-audio/
• Adore Network Video
  https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-video/
• Apple Podcasts Audio
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
• Apple Podcasts Video
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-video/id392545647

AI Disclosure

AI tools helped organize and edit this episode and create the above show notes from the completed Episode #686 transcript. The conversation, perspectives, editorial direction, and final editing were performed, and responsibility for the episode remains human-led. The New Media Show is human-hosted.

The post Hidden Revenue: What Media Publishers Are Leaving Behind | Sean Howard, Flightpath #686 first appeared on New Media Show.

As AI makes it easier to create more content, human relationships may become more valuable, not less. 

In Episode #685 of the New Media Show, host and Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee talks with Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch and host of Podcasting Made Simple, about why relationships between hosts, guests, audiences, collaborators, and communities are becoming an increasingly important part of podcast growth.

The conversation explores podcast guesting, better host-guest matching, AI-assisted workflows, audio and video podcasting, RSS and HLS, creator-owned communities, and why direct audience relationships matter as large platforms gain more control over discovery and monetization.

Human Connection Wins

Alex built PodMatch around a simple problem: podcast hosts could find guests, but finding the “right guest” and managing all the administrative work surrounding an interview took an enormous amount of time.

The goal is to automate the work around the conversation without automating the human connection itself.

Rob and Alex discuss why great podcast conversations create relationships that can continue long after an episode is published.

Better Guests, Better Conversations

A strong podcast guest should arrive ready to lead with value, not simply promote a book, company, or product.

Rob and Alex discuss why:

– Every interview should feel different
– Guests should bring something new to each conversation
– Hosts need to listen rather than simply read questions
– Generic AI-generated pitches are easy to recognize
– Guest and show alignment matters more than volume
– Meaningful conversations are more likely to be shared

Alex also explains how PodMatch is using AI to improve host-guest alignment while reducing research and administrative work.

Audio, Video and the Changing Podcast

The conversation expands into the growing convergence between podcasting and YouTube.

Alex remains audio and RSS-focused but believes podcasting and YouTube are increasingly influencing each other. Podcasting brings depth and long-form conversation while YouTube brings visual discovery and engagement.

Rob and Alex also discuss the HLS video format, alternative enclosures, separate audio and video feeds, and why the current publishing ecosystem can still feel unnecessarily complicated for creators.

Build Relationships You Own

As major platforms change algorithms, monetization rules, and distribution policies, creators have another reason to develop direct relationships with their audiences.

Newsletters, private communities, memberships, events, collaborations, and other owned audience pathways can turn large platforms into discovery and recruiting channels rather than the entire creator business.

Alex sees this community layer becoming an increasingly important part of PodMatch.

Discussion Highlights

– Why human connection becomes more valuable as content expands
– How PodMatch matches podcast hosts and guests
– Solo, co-hosted, and interview podcast formats
– Podcasting versus YouTube content strategies
– RSS, HLS, audio and video podcast distribution
– What defines a podcast in 2026?
– Why guests should lead with value
– Creating unique conversations instead of repeating talking points
– Why generic AI podcast pitches fail
– Using AI to improve guest-host alignment
– Podcast collaborations, review swaps, and podrolls
– Building creator-owned communities
– Turning platforms into audience acquisition channels
– Why trusted relationships may be the creator’s strongest long-term asset

Chapter Markers

00:00 When content becomes unlimited, human connection becomes scarce
01:45 Introducing Alex Sanfilippo and PodMatch
03:25 Why podcast conversations matter
07:10 Guests, co-hosts, and solo podcast formats
13:05 Podcasting meets YouTube
17:00 Finding the platform where your audience lives
20:25 Audio, video, RSS, and HLS complexity
27:25 What is a podcast now?
30:05 Why podcast guests need to lead with value
33:00 Every interview should be different
35:20 Listening creates better conversations
38:15 Why unique interviews get shared
41:15 The problem with AI-generated podcast pitches
44:20 Finding real guest-show alignment
48:45 Why Alex has become more selective about guesting
50:40 Using AI for PodMatch alignment
54:35 Podcast collaborations, reviews, and podrolls
57:15 Podcast relationships become communities
58:45 Building audiences beyond rented platforms
01:03:00 Creating relationships with your true fans
01:05:15 Community and the future of PodMatch
01:06:20 Where to connect with Alex
01:07:00 Closing thoughts

About Alex Sanfilippo

Alex Sanfilippo is the founder of PodMatch, a platform that connects podcast hosts and guests while streamlining the administrative work around podcast interviews.

He also hosts Podcasting Made Simple, where he helps independent podcast hosts and guests grow their influence, audiences, and businesses.

Guest Links

• PodMatch
  https://podmatch.com
• Alex’s free podcast host and guest resources
  https://podmatch.com/free
• Podcasting Made Simple
  https://podmatch.com/episodes

About the Host

Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Chair of the Podcast Hall of Fame, Founder of Trust Factor Lab, and longtime new-media executive, creator, strategist, and industry leader.

Listen and Watch

• New Media Show
  https://NewMediaShow.com
• Adore Network Audio
  https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-audio/
• Adore Network Video
  https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-video/
• Apple Podcasts Audio
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
• Apple Podcasts Video
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-video/id392545647

AI Disclosure

AI tools helped organize and edit this episode and create the above show notes from the completed Episode #685 transcript. The conversation, perspectives, editorial direction, and final editing and responsibility for the episode remain human-led. The New Media Show is human-hosted.

The post Human Audience Growth in the AI Era | Alex Sanfilippo #685 first appeared on New Media Show.

AI can now reproduce a person’s face, voice, movement, and likeness with increasing realism.

The bigger question is becoming: Who gets to control that identity, authorize its use, and potentially get paid when it has commercial value?

In Episode #684 of the New Media Show,  Host Rob Greenlee talks with Anne Kavanagh, co-founder of Royall.ai, about building a new permission and licensing layer around human identity.

The conversation is not about stopping or being anti-AI. It is about establishing something that has largely been missing: proof and authorization before use.

Your Identity Becomes an Asset You Control

Royall.ai is developing what Anne describes as a biometric vault where people can register elements of their identity, including voice, face, likeness, and body motion.

Those assets can be fingerprinted and watermarked, creating the foundation for detecting use, approving or rejecting it, and potentially licensing it commercially.

That changes the discussion from simply asking whether AI can clone someone to asking whether the person actually gave permission.

A creator could potentially say:

• Use my voice for this campaign, but only for six months.
• Allow my likeness to be used to train this model, but pay me.
• Do not use my identity for this purpose at all.
• The central principle is simple: You own you.

Protection and Opportunity

The same technology designed to identify unauthorized use could also create legitimate new markets for human identity.

Anne describes a future where AI companies, studios, agencies, platforms, and brands could license verified human data rather than simply collecting material from the public internet.

Creators could choose whether their voice, face, movement, or content can be used for AI training and receive compensation when they opt in.

This becomes especially important as synthetic media becomes indistinguishable from human media. Rob also raises another possibility: as AI-generated content becomes abundant, verified or certified human-created content may itself become more valuable.

Podcast Archives Create Another Rights Problem

The discussion gets particularly relevant to podcasting. A podcast owner may control thousands of hours of archived conversations, but that does not necessarily mean the owner has the right to license every guest’s voice for AI training.

Rob explains that the New Media Show archive has previously attracted interest for conversational AI training, but licensing complete conversations would require permission from the guests whose voices appear in them.

Royall.ai is exploring infrastructure that could help identify those participants, request consent, manage permissions, and create licensing transactions across large content libraries.

That could become a significant issue as decades of podcast, video, music, and creator archives become valuable training material.

Discussion Highlights
– Who should control your voice, face, and digital likeness
– Creating a biometric identity vault
– Consent before AI use
– Detecting unauthorized likeness and voice usage
– Licensing human identity for AI training
– Getting creators paid for authorized use
– Deepfakes, scams, and identity theft
– Why trust is critical to biometric infrastructure
– AI disclosure versus AI-assisted creation
– The rise of verified human-created media
– Creator contracts and synthetic likeness rights
– Licensing podcast archives for AI training
– Why guest consent matters
– Royall.ai as an identity and permission API layer

Chapter Timestamp Markers

00:00 Who controls your likeness and voice identity?
03:00 Introducing Anne Kavanagh and Royall.ai
07:00 How the idea behind Royall.ai developed
09:00 Verified identity, authorization and licensing
10:00 Creating a biometric vault for voice, face and motion
18:00 Detection, reporting and takedown tools
20:00 Opting into AI training and getting paid
24:00 Building a training-grade voice model
28:00 Identity protection becomes an economic opportunity
34:00 Why this is a human issue, not just a creator issue
38:00 Deepfakes, students, scams and identity theft
40:00 The trust challenge of storing biometric identity
43:00 Building a registrar for human identity and likeness
45:00 Royall.ai as part of the technology stack
48:00 The principle: You own you
53:00 AI tools, disclosure and audience trust
59:00 Could certified human content become premium?
01:02:00 Synthetic podcast hosts and transparency
01:04:00 Creator contracts and consent for AI training
01:05:00 Licensing podcast archives and guest voices
01:08:00 Who controls your existing content libraries?
01:11:00 How Royall.ai early access works
01:14:00 Public images, copyright and identity ownership

Anne Kavanagh Guest Links

Royall.ai is currently onboarding users through an early-access process, with registration, fingerprinting, watermarking, detection capabilities, and enterprise/API integrations discussed toward the end of the episode.

Royall.ai
https://royall.ai

Host, Rob Greenlee and Show Links

New Media Show
https://newmediashow.com

New Media Show on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow

Rob Greenlee
https://robgreenlee.com

Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee

Podcast Hall of Fame
https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure

AI tools helped organize and edit the episode to remove filler words; this description was created from the completed full transcript of episode #684. The recorded conversation, human performances, perspectives, editorial direction, and final responsibility for the episode remain with Rob Greenlee and Anne Kavanagh. The New Media Show is human-hosted.

The post Own Your Identity: Who Controls Your Voice, and Likeness? | Anne Kavanagh, Royall.ai #684 first appeared on New Media Show.

Podcasting has one advantage that much of digital media struggles to maintain: trust.

In Episode #683 of the New Media Show, Rob Greenlee talks with Mike Kadin, CEO and co-founder of RedCircle.  What does that trust mean for podcast advertising as AI, video, HLS, YouTube, Spotify, and changing audience behavior reshape the business?

Long-form shows create a different relationship between creators and audiences than short-form social content. That relationship has always been one of the reasons host-read podcast advertising can work so well.

But what happens when AI can recreate the host’s voice?

Mike makes an important distinction. The value of a host-read ad is not simply hearing a familiar voice. It comes from the host’s language, personality, experience, humor, and actual judgment about the product. RedCircle does not use AI-generated versions of creators to perform host-read advertising.

Mike believes cloning the host’s voice without the actual human endorsement could undermine the very trust that makes the advertising valuable.

Authentic Host Reads Still Matter

Rob and Mike talk about the difference between reading advertising copy and genuinely recommending something a creator has used.

RedCircle has seen similar shows, with similar audience sizes, run by the same advertiser and using the same talking points, produce very different results. One of the biggest differences can be the quality and believability of the host read.

That also puts responsibility on creators to work with products they can credibly talk about.

Mike explains that RedCircle will sometimes hear from a creator who tried a sponsor’s product and did not like it.

Rather than force an endorsement, the company can take that feedback back to the advertiser and cancel the spot. That kind of process helps protect the relationship between the creator and audience.

Using AI to Find Better Brand Matches

Mike also talks about a newer RedCircle capability called Show IQ.

Over the years of running campaigns, RedCircle has accumulated information on its creators’ interests and brand affinities, as well as historical campaign performance. Show IQ uses that information to help identify creators who may be a natural fit for a particular advertiser.

This is an example of AI being used behind the scenes to improve the match rather than replacing the human doing the endorsement. The goal is to put advertisers with creators who can actually speak credibly about their products.

Spotify, YouTube and Control of Podcast Monetization

The conversation shifts to the growing influence of large consumption platforms. Spotify is experimenting with ways for listeners to move past advertising more easily. YouTube has already offered similar jump-ahead behavior around portions of videos that viewers commonly skip.

Mike does not see this as some unexpected attack on podcasting. Spotify and YouTube have built massive distribution platforms and naturally want to control more of the economics that happen inside them.

For creators, diversification becomes increasingly important.

A creator can use YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms for distribution, but should also keep building direct relationships through websites, newsletters, subscriptions, and communities. No single distribution platform can be expected to always put the creator’s interests first.

RedCircle Is Moving Into Video

RedCircle has also started expanding beyond its traditional audio focus. Creators can now upload video through RedCircle and send it to YouTube, an expansion of its earlier audio-to-YouTube tools.

Mike says YouTube was the obvious first priority because that is where the largest existing video audience is today. RedCircle is also watching Spotify video, Apple Podcasts video, and HLS as podcasting becomes increasingly multi-format. The advertising systems will eventually need to evolve along with the content.

HLS Creates New Advertising Questions

A significant part of the conversation focuses on HLS and Apple’s new video-podcast approach in this episode.

Podcast advertising has traditionally been built around audio downloads. The video introduces a much more complex environment.

An Apple Podcasts episode may still automatically download its audio before the listener ever presses play.

If that listener later watches the video version, the advertising decision may already have been made. That makes traditional real-time programmatic video advertising harder to apply to podcast video.

For now, audio advertising may become a common advertising format, whether someone is listening or watching. That works technically, but it is not necessarily the best video experience.

Rob and Mike discuss the need for a new type of podcast video advertising that works whether someone hears the ad, watches it, or moves between both experiences.

Audio and Video Are Converging, But Not Cleanly

Rob raises a question he is dealing with directly on the New Media Show. Should a show have one combined audio-video experience, or should creators continue producing separate audio versions?

The New Media Show has distributed separate audio and video feeds for years. HLS makes it easier to move between listening and viewing, but that convergence can also lead to compromises.

Great video production does not automatically guarantee the best audio experience. The reverse is also true. Mike agrees there is a reasonable argument for preserving more flexibility between the two formats.

Measurement Is Getting Harder

Podcast measurement was already complicated.

Now creators may have traditional podcast downloads, Spotify streams, YouTube views, Apple video consumption, social views, and various advertising impressions.

Those numbers do not all mean the same thing. That creates an operational problem for creators trying to sell advertising and for brands trying to understand what they purchased. Mike believes technology needs to simplify this increasingly fragmented environment.

Mike compares it to the music industry, where tools were developed to distribute music and aggregate results across many different services. Creator media increasingly needs the same kind of cross-platform infrastructure.

What Is a Podcast Now? The episode also returns to a question the New Media Show has discussed for years.

What exactly is a podcast? Mike admits he has two answers.

As a longtime software engineer and RSS believer,  Mike still thinks of a podcast as episodic media distributed through RSS.

As the CEO of a podcast technology and advertising company, he sees younger people entering the business who do not know what RSS is and think of a podcast as the kind of long-form conversational content they see on YouTube.

At some point, audience behavior begins defining the medium.

Rob and Mike also discuss industry efforts such as the AMP work around definitions and measurement.

Mike supports efforts to build standards but says they only become truly meaningful if the major platforms where people actually consume podcasts implement them.

Where Podcasting Goes Next

Mike believes the industry has to follow audience behavior. Creators are becoming multi-channel because audiences already are.

Audio, video, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, RSS apps, and social platforms are increasingly parts of the same creator-media business. The opportunity is to build better tools that allow creators to distribute, monetize, and measure it all without having to manage the complexity themselves.

HLS is one part of that transition.

The larger change is podcasting becoming a much broader medium for audio and video creators while trying to preserve the trust that made it valuable in the first place.

Discussion Highlights:

– Why long-form podcasting creates deeper audience trust
– Why authentic host reads still perform
– AI-generated advertising and creator voice cloning
– Why RedCircle does not use synthetic host reads
– RedCircle Show IQ and better creator-brand matching
– Dynamic versus baked-in podcast advertising
– Spotify and YouTube gaining more monetization control
– Why creators need direct audience relationships
– RedCircle’s move into video
– Why YouTube was its first video priority
– HLS and podcast video advertising
– Audio versus video ad creative
– Separate audio and video podcast experiences
– Cross-platform measurement problems
– Alternate enclosures and adoption
– What defines a podcast now
– The need for meaningful industry standards
– The future of multi-channel podcast monetization

Chapter Timestamp Markers

00:00 Podcasting, trust and long-form media
01:00 Introducing Mike Kadin of RedCircle
02:00 Why trust matters in podcast advertising
03:20 AI-generated ads and audience trust
06:10 Why RedCircle avoids cloned host reads
09:00 Authentic creator endorsements
11:00 Why some host reads outperform others
12:20 RedCircle Show IQ
14:00 The future of host-read advertising
15:30 Dynamic versus baked-in ads
17:20 Spotify and ad skipping
21:00 YouTube and platform control
22:20 Creators need direct audience relationships
24:00 RedCircle moves further into video
26:30 HLS and podcast video advertising
31:00 Opportunities for video host-read advertising
33:00 Ads that work in audio and video
36:30 Separate audio and video feeds
40:00 The fragmented consumption experience
42:00 Podcast measurement gets more complicated
44:30 HLS and alternate enclosures
47:20 What is a podcast now?
52:00 Standards and the major platforms
54:00 Measuring advertising by performance
56:00 The multi-channel future of podcasting
58:00 Closing thoughts

Mike Kadin Guest Links

RedCircle: https://redcircle.com

Host and Show Links

New Media Show
https://newmediashow.com

New Media Show on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow

Rob Greenlee
https://robgreenlee.com

Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee

Podcast Hall of Fame
https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure

AI tools were used to assist with organizing and editing to remove filler words; this episode description was created from the completed full transcript of episode #683. The recorded conversation, human performances, perspectives, editorial direction, and final responsibility for the episode remain with Rob Greenlee and Mike Kadin. The New Media Show is human-hosted.

The post Trust, AI and the Future of Podcast Advertising | Mike Kadin, RedCircle #683 first appeared on New Media Show.

When AI content becomes abundant, what becomes scarce?

In Episode #682 of the New Media Show, Host, Rob Greenlee talks with growth and brand strategist Jaymi Bauer. Jaymi is CEO and co-founder of Vaquera Group, creator of Resonance Design, and founder of a new women’s vitality venture called Reign.Care.

She and Rob previously worked together at Microsoft during the Zune and Xbox eras, giving both a long view of how technology continually reshapes media and human behavior.

The conversation is not anti-AI. It is about understanding where AI is powerful and where human creators may still have the advantage.

The Human Signal

Jaymi states that humans feel trust before they intellectually recognize it. We respond to tone, presence, energy, emotion, authenticity, and whether something feels genuine.  AI can increasingly reproduce human language, imagery, voices, and creative patterns, but Jaymi believes audiences will continue seeking something deeper: content rooted in real human experience.

Her advice to creators is simple: Become better at AI while becoming even more human. AI as Amplifier, Not the Source

Rob and Jaymi explore AI as a creative and production layer rather than the original source of meaning.

AI can:

Research faster
Organize ideas
Improve production
Expand visual possibilities
Help creators distribute content
Personalize discovery
Build new interactive experiences

But the strongest output still begins with a strong human seed: an idea, experience, perspective, story, or creative intention.

Jaymi shares her experience of heavily using AI on a book proposal. The result was polished, but she felt it had become hollow and disconnected from her own creative voice. That became a reminder that efficiency does not automatically create resonance.

Why Human Content May Become Premium

As synthetic media becomes harder to distinguish from human-created media, Rob raises the possibility that creators may eventually label content as human-hosted or human-created, rather than simply labeling AI content.

Jaymi believes genuine human interaction may eventually feel more valuable precisely because it becomes less common.

That could increase the value of:

Live conversations
Human-created storytelling
Live music and events
Real relationships
Distinctive personal perspectives
Physical experiences
Trusted communities

The future may not be human versus AI. It may be human creativity amplified by AI.

Creators Need AI Literacy

Jaymi strongly advises creators not to ignore AI. Her view is that creators should learn the tools, experiment with them, understand their limitations, and explore what they make possible. But they also need stronger critical thinking and editorial judgment.

Rob and Jaymi discuss how experienced professionals may have an advantage here because they have lived through multiple cycles in technology, media, business, and the economy.

Knowing when AI is wrong, when to stop refining, what matters, and what audiences actually value may become increasingly important skills.

AI Changes Discovery Too. AI is not only creating content. It is increasingly sitting between creators and audiences.

Rob discusses how platforms such as YouTube use AI to analyze media, understand content, personalize recommendations, and decide who should see what.

That means creators are entering an environment where AI may influence:

Creation
Editing
Distribution
Metadata
Search
Recommendations
Audience targeting
Personalization

The creator still provides the human idea, but AI increasingly shapes how that idea reaches the world.

A More Interactive Media Future

The conversation also explores AI-powered audience participation. Rob describes emerging platforms where synthetic personalities, expert knowledge bases, and human audience members can participate in shared conversations.

Instead of traditional one-way media, future shows could include creators, audiences, and AI agents discussing topics together.

That could make podcasts, livestreams, sports media, education, and communities considerably more interactive.

Discussion Highlights
-What Jaymi means by the “human signal”
-Why trust is often felt before it is understood
-AI-generated media versus human-created media
-Why creators should become “superhuman,” not anti-AI
-AI as a creative amplifier
-The importance of critical thinking and editorial judgment
-Why AI-generated work can feel polished but hollow
-How experienced professionals can work effectively with AI
-AI’s growing role in discovery and recommendation
-Personal LLMs and creator knowledge models
-Human and AI participants inside future media experiences
-Why live and human-created experiences could become premium
-The possibility of labeling media as human-hosted
-Creativity, trust, and relationships as long-term advantages

Chapter Markers

00:00 Why the human signal matters
01:32 Introducing Jaymi Bauer
02:48 What is the human signal?
05:35 Can AI reproduce human connection?
09:15 Staying human while using AI
11:22 Collective AI knowledge versus individual human knowledge
13:30 Why audiences may eventually reject synthetic sameness
16:04 Will AI-generated entertainment satisfy us?
18:35 AI as a new creative tool
21:05 Lessons from Xbox and immersive media
23:10 Why gamers still want human creativity
25:10 How humans remain valuable
26:38 The dystopian side of AI
28:10 Could AI eventually give humans more freedom?
30:05 Creativity as a human advantage
31:15 Why creators need AI literacy
33:15 Becoming “superhuman”
34:25 Jaymi’s AI-generated book proposal mistake
36:00 Using AI as a first draft
37:20 Better prompts start with better human thinking
38:25 When AI becomes inefficient
40:20 Humans as AI tutors and experts
42:15 What happens when AI gains real-world experience?
45:10 Human truth and durable brands
48:10 AI becomes the discovery layer
51:00 Personal LLMs and expert AI models
52:20 AI-powered audience participation
55:00 Humans and AI in the same conversation
57:10 AI companionship and relationships
59:55 Will human-created media become premium?
01:01:05 Hybrid human and AI production
01:03:10 Where to find Jaymi
01:04:00 Jaymi’s new vitality venture
01:05:40 Closing thoughts

Jaymi Bauer Guest Links:

Jaymi Bauer on Substack
https://jaymibauer1.substack.com

“The Human Signal”
https://jaymibauer1.substack.com/p/the-human-signal

Vaquera Group
https://vaquera.co

Reign
https://reign.care

About the Host:  Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Chair of the Podcast Hall of Fame, founder of Trust Factor Lab, and longtime new-media executive, creator, strategist, and industry leader.

Through The New Media Show, Rob explores the changing intersection of podcasting, video, creator-led media, artificial intelligence, platforms, audience ownership, trust, monetization, and the future of human-created media.

Host and Show Links

New Media Show
https://newmediashow.com

New Media Show on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow

Rob Greenlee
https://robgreenlee.com

Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee

Podcast Hall of Fame
https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure

AI tools were used to assist with organizing and editing to remove filler words; this episode description was created from the completed full transcript of episode #682. The recorded conversation, human performances, perspectives, editorial direction, and final responsibility for the episode remain with Rob Greenlee and Jaymi Bauer. The New Media Show is human-hosted.

The post The Human Signal: What Becomes Valuable in AI Creation Era | Jaymi Bauer #682 first appeared on New Media Show.