545. Riverside 2.0 and The Future of Podcast Creation | Podcast News

0:05 Marc Ronick: Good morning, Today is Wednesday, july 1, 2026 and today it's our podcast news episode. Riverside wants to run your entire content workflow. New research says fans follow creators, not platforms, and Edison has a massive update on podcast listening time. So, if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button, top right-hand side of the screen, and share it however And if you're catching us via podcast, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. please share this with the fellow podcaster. And now, give us about 30 seconds, and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here. The podcasting morning show is powered by Ironick Media, helping podcasters launch, polish, and grow great shows, and by Content creators, build real business behind their Good morning again, podcasting morning show.

1:22 Thank you so much for being here. I am your host, Mark Ronick, and co-host Ralph Estep, DR. Fay, C Babbles. Good morning to all of you. If you want to learn more about those fine people, just go to Podcasting Morning show.com/people and you can find them, etc. As for today, yes, we are getting into the news, and things. One, I realized we haven't been doing evaluations lately, we haven't gotten into our spotlight series that we started, and I know we have a handful of both of those two things, so I want to bring that back. We're not going to do evaluations tomorrow, because I haven't given our team enough time to actually go listen to I think we will bring back stay tuned there. And tomorrow, I feel like let's play at least one of the spotlights, and yeah, see how that goes. Bring that back again.

2:25 So we will do that. first say thank you to Dr for morning. An old friend of this show and good friend of mine, Larry Roberts, Red Hat Larry, you may know him more as such, and Larry and I, we started a podcast together several years ago. It didn't last terribly long, unfortunately. We were planning on going, doing some business together, that didn't last long, unfortunately, and we are still friends. It might have caused a little rift for us initially, and we had since gotten past that. The reason why I'm sharing about Larry is he posted a very brave post yesterday on, I saw it on Facebook, I'm guessing maybe in multiple places.

3:17 Larry is trying to just think of how to put this. I mean, I guess I'll just be DR: going through some stuff. Marc Ronick: Yeah, but I'll be there publicly. Larry deals with alcoholism, and I knew that about him when I met him. He was one of the seven of us that went to that creator house, where we held our own retreat for seven of us, where we taught each other our different skills, and it was a really amazing week, and he was one of the people there, and he shared that with us at the time, and he's been going through it, as you said, DR. for the past for this whole year, really, and he's been in facility now. He's looking to go into a long-term facility to really beat this thing, and I just want to shout him out and say how proud I am of him.

4:12 How brave it was of him to post what he posted, and I'm rooting for him. DR: I gotta say, if there's anyone going through something like this, you really would do yourself a favor to look up Larry Robert and take a look at his post, because he, it's a very long post, he talks about it's almost a timeline that he takes you through, he talks about all the times that he relapsed and got back up again, I mean, he really goes through the timeline, and it really sounds as though he's, he's in it to win it this time, you know, yeah, so yeah, very, very inspirational, Marc Ronick: it was, it was, and man, it sounds like a lot.

5:00 Sounds like a lot, so we are I reached out to him again today. He and I have been in contact over the last few months here and there. I've known what he's been going through. I've known really since Pod Fest, and yeah, I just.. he has Larry. You have my full support now. I'm talking to Larry as if I think he's listening right now, and I'm sure he has better things to do, but I'm putting it out there, and DR: especially because he's in California, and it's really, Marc Ronick: yes, it's very early there. Yes, very early there. So, wishing you the best, support. Okay, so with that, I think, unless there are any other announcements, I will.

5:43 Let's do this officially and get into the news for today. And as of yesterday, June 30, I want to give you some statistics, as I like to do to kick this off, and a helpful number to understand the amount of podcasts being created is a total number of active podcasts. These are podcasts that are still being updated and therefore actively marketing themselves. If you're making podcast episodes, you might consider this number to be your competition, rather than the big overall 4.7 million podcasts that are out there today. So, with that being said, new episodes published over the past week, the number of new and that is down just point 3% episodes published in the last and that's down almost 6% from So, the summer slump continues. I call it a slump, but some of us, like the Podcasting Morning Show, made that conscious effort to reduce the amount of shows over the summertime.

6:57 All right, so with that, DR. Let's get into your two top five lists. You are muted. Read my shirt. Well, it doesn't. There she's DR: there. I am sorry about that. I was on the page of Good Pods, so I can read it. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, so in the rundown I actually put five, like I normally do, but I'm going to take this one from number six. Okay, okay, okay, sure. Because it happens to be evaluation on number six. So, okay. Marc Ronick: And what's the DR: This is from Good Pods Marc Ronick: Relationship DR: Yeah, number six is Better Marc Ronick: Yes, DR: right. Marc Ronick: Yeah, we've done that. Yeah, DR: number five is 12th Street Talk Back Podcast. Number four is The Thing About Us podcast.

7:57 timpani? There it is, Unlocking Us with B'nai Brown. Number two is We Can Do Hard Things, and the number one podcast in relationships is The Manic Pixie Weirdo. Cool, Marc Ronick: it's cool to see Brene Brene Brown on that chart. I've been a fan of hers for so now, and yeah, I've checked I think she has a co-host that mistaken. Yeah, I think so. From that one, I heard, DR: and I saw them in an interview, and they were talking about their relationship, how they were adversaries for a while, and how they actually came together. So, it was.. it was very.. it's very interesting. Marc Ronick: Yeah, I do love the other a lot, and yeah, it's my kind of show.

8:44 I recommend that show too. DR: Awesome. Next, Marc Ronick: yeah, DR: go ahead. Sid Meadows: Sorry, the that it's called The Curiosity Shop, so it's a different podcast. Marc Ronick: Got it. Thank you for that, Sid. Appreciate that. Okay, go ahead, DR. DR: Okay. And the next podcast chart is from Apple's top five health and fitness. Okay, so number five is what is that? Nothing, nothing much happens. Number four is On Purpose with Jay Shetty. I always have to be very careful when I pronounce his last name. Number three is Huberman Lab, and the timpani ride. Number two is the Dylan Grimaldi podcast, and the number one podcast in health and fitness is Passion Struck with John R.

9:39 Miles. Marc Ronick: Thank you, DR. Love just for that. Thank you, Dr. Let's keep things moving and share just a few events with you coming up this month, and maybe a month following this month, so for. First podcast SEO: define your strategy and launch campaign. This is hosted by Well It Depends Labs, that's Ariel Nissenblatt, that's the woman think it was just last week. with all of this, and especially having, but yes, I think it was last week, and I will say I joined one of her podcast SEO thought it was awesome. I wanted to see what she does, how she does it, and hear more about her strategy, and it was really helpful. DR: Were you in that?

10:34 I signed up for it, I paid for it, but I didn't know that someone had planned to meet with me during that time, so I was not able to make it, but I got the replay. Marc Ronick: Yeah, I highly We talk a little bit about applying podcasting morning show stuff that based on her strategies, so I'm sure you will find it particularly interesting. I highly recommend it. It's happening Wednesday, july 15. will put a link in the show just Google. Well, it depends labs, and I'm sure you'll find this one DR: like an extension.

11:14 Yeah, so went to Marc Ronick: the one I went to, I think was more of an overview with some strategies built into it, but I think this one is much more, much more refined and specific to an actual putting it into place. So, yeah, so I highly recommend that it is a paid event, and I think well worth your money. Also, Podcasting Made Simple Live, this is Pod Match's quarterly event. Podcasting Made Simple Live is a premium podcasting virtual event focused on helping podcast guests and hosts improve their craft, so they can make a bigger positive impact on the world around them. It's listed on Pod News as a free event, but I do know he charges for it, and I also know that they give away a lot of tickets to that as well, so go check that out@podmatch.com And finally, surprise, surprise, the Empowered Podcasting Conference.

12:13 we're, I think, like under seven specific, August 20-first recommending come august 20, so you can get registered. You don't have to wake up at the morning, and also you can join us that Thursday evening, because we're going to throw a little soiree to kick things off that evening, so everybody can mingle and get to know each other before we kick things off. So our mission with this whole thing is to empower indie and DIY podcasters by creating accessible, inclusive spaces where connection, collaboration, and growth are the priority. We believe podcasting is at its best when creators support openly and candidly, and build a single event or guest Speaking of which, where that extension happens today at 1pm Eastern Live, we will be Empowered Podcasting.

13:12 We will be hosting our weekly live stream. We're going to have Shay that have created a really teaching others at our event, today. How to do the same, so all of this to be said. Go to Empowered podcasting.com you can get the link to the live show today, and of course, you can get the link to get your tickets. So get those now and use EPC Mark 20, EPC mark M A R C 20, and get 20% off your tickets. I realized I should have done this quick tip, smart move content creators business fight, and today's Content Creators Business Bite is brought to you by Ralph E. Stepp Jr. of Content Creators accountant.com Ralph is a years of experience helping bookkeeping, and the money side of their business with clarity and a whole lot less stress, and of what Ralph is all about you didn't hear yesterday's you'll hear what I'm talking He's also my accountant, I'm happy to recommend him.

14:35 You can learn more at Content Creators accountant.com With that, Ralph, what are we diving into today? Ralph Estep Jr.: Well, good certainly brought the receipts that, make sure you hold on to But I just thought about today - it's really kind of wild if you think about it. Today is the middle of the year, got six months gone and six months in front of us, and for a lot of podcasters, a lot of content creators, just like me. Me, it's kind of been a blur, like I can't, I look back and, like, where did six months go? We've been recording, we've posting, showing up somewhere in I wonder if the money side has just run itself where you hoped it would. So, I want to give you permission today to do something. I'm going to walk you through six things that I think you should do in the next 24 to 48 hours to really bring this back to home and make sure you're doing the right things.

15:24 I'm going to give you permission actually look at what's going on The middle of the year is the single best checkpoint you're going to get. A lot of people say, well, I'll look at this when New Year's comes around, this is a great time to do it. The reason I like this time of year, it's late enough that you've got some real numbers for the years, you can see, like, where I really am, and it's early enough that you can still change course before December hits. So, I put a blog post out. We'll put a link to that in the show notes today. It's talking about six quick money checks you can run this week, and I want to walk you through each of those real quickly. I promise this won't take a long time. I'm not going to take the whole show. The number one thing you got to understand your revenue mix. The way you do that is sort every dollar from January through June by source, and what I mean by that is, look at where your money's coming in from. Is it coming in from ad revenue? Is it coming in from sponsors, affiliates, products, and membership?

16:16 One of the things I want you to do there is look at the percentages of the income regard. The reason I want you to look at that is, there one source that's making up most of your money. If it is, that's the source that I really encourage you to lean into. If you've got one platform or one sponsor, you know you don't have a business yet, you've got a single point of failure as well. So take a look at that, make sure you're being broad and make sure you're diversifying yourself. So that's the first thing. Second thing, lean into your real profit number. Almost everybody I know in content creation skips this one. They know what came in, they know what the top of the important number is what you've actually kept.

16:56 That's something you can drill down on, because that is really the number that makes the most sense, after the gear, after the software, after your editor, all of that. Those are two very different numbers. And here's the issue: only one you've got to know what your Here's tool number three. Great time, and this one's shouting out to Dr. a little bit. This is your mid-year tax tune-up. Second quarter taxes were actually due june 15, but don't fret about that. Maybe your stomach just dropped, you're thinking, 'Wait a minute, it's already thinking about tax time. When you're a creator like this, no one's withholding taxes for you. So, this is a great time to check and see once you figure out what that net income number is.

17:36 Have you put enough money aside? I'm recommending 25 to 30% as that money comes in, that way next April isn't a scary fest, like it's a hard time when you go to meet with your accountant, prevent April from being scary. So that's tool number three. Here's tool number four, the content ROI check. Here's a hard truth: not all of your content earns money, it just doesn't, and you've got to really look at where are you devoting your time, and is it actually generating income? Is it making direct money, so sponsorships or affiliates or product that's sold? Maybe it's helped you grow your list. Those are great indirect things, but find your top three earners and your bottom three, and what? Look at what's paying your bills, and what things are just a hobby, you might want to refine what you're working on. Here's number five, the pacing projection. I want you to take your first half numbers and project for the full year.

18:29 This way you can take a look at what is really going to happen for the rest of the year. That way you can start to budget your subject, start to get an idea of where you're going. If you are ahead of where you are, that's great. Keep working towards if you're behind, you've got six months to go and clean it up. And here's my tip number six, and this one will save everybody money. We talked about this a couple weeks ago. Audit those subscriptions. This is a great time to go and look at what you're paying for, look at your schedule, what other apps that you're paying for, pull three months of your credit card and bank statements, and listen, cancel what you're not using. You might find $200 a month. I was just working with a creator, found $1,200 a month back in their pocket, because they found things they weren't using.

19:10 If they're not doing anything, get rid of them. Here's the heart of it. If you have the capacity to figure this out, most creators So this week, sit down and look and see what you can do to change the dynamic, that's all. Six, like I said, I put a link in the show notes. Day my mid year money check in, check that out. Walk through this. This is a great time to really focus while you still got time to change. You've got numbers that you can measure. So, thank you so much for listening to my six points today. Marc Ronick: Thank you, Ralph. If anyone has any questions, now is your chance. Otherwise, forever hold your peace. Okay. Then wrong button. All right, Ralph, I hit the wrong button.

19:52 Audio Clip: I pushed the wrong Now my screen froze up. My friend, oh man, laugh it off. It reset. Let it. Then I pushed the wrong button again, Marc Ronick: yep, did it again. I've been on a decent streak, but not today. Okay, so with that, let's dive into some news bites. These are some stories that we think are important, and we don't know if they're gonna that's why we call them news And this one is the headline. Why Mel Robbins isn't abandoning abandoning audio. So, inside audio marketing reports that Mel Robbins is taking a very intentional approach to the video podcast boom.

20:35 Yes, she sees video as a major growth opportunity, but her team still treats the Mel Robbins podcast as an audio-first production, so the translation, they're not just turning on a camera and calling it a strategy. Her team builds separate versions of audio, video, and short form social because people listen differently than they watch. intros, recaps, and repetition. Video viewers, they bail faster than a guest who realizes you forgot to hit record. For indie podcasters, this may be a much needed gut check. As we often say here, video can absolutely help you grow, but only when you understand the format that you're creating for Mel's team reportedly spends serious time researching audience needs, prepping guests, studio studying viewer behavior.

21:32 If I can mesh words together and shaping each episode around one specific listener, that's the real lesson. The camera is not the strategy, the audience is the strategy. So, I'm curious, is anybody here creating different versions of your show for audio and video, or are you publishing the same thing everywhere? Ralph Estep Jr.: I'll jump in there real quick, because, as you know, I don't want to thank Rob Walsh, by as a matter of fact, because he finally got one Oh, Marc Ronick: good. Ralph Estep Jr.: So, yeah, I have all of them on video, and Mark, to be honest with you, what I decided to do about three months ago is, my, I'm considering myself video first, actually, and that's what I'm leaning into. And then the audio, I'm making it such that I don't say, well, look at the screen and all those sort of things, so I'm not doing two separate, but my production team is adding B roll to the video side.

22:27 They're doing a lot more lower thirds and titles and things like that. So we're, we're using the same content. I'm not recording two separate things, but we are tweaking it a little bit on the back end. Marc Ronick: Makes sense. DR: Yeah, I edit my business client separately. The audio is edited separately from the video, so I feel that the two separate things, two different listeners. Marc Ronick: And I mean, technically, I guess we here at the Podcasting Morning Show do two different versions as well. We put out the live version unedited, and then we put out the audio version, which is edited, so yeah, I guess we're doing a couple of different things. I will say that social media clips, vast majority of them, especially like I said, clips specifically video, I usually do pretty much the same thing.

23:14 I might change if I'm putting like a text overlay title on it, I might change them for the different platforms, I might change up the captions with them, you know, talking about that particular clip, but for by and large, I'm mainly keeping that content the same. I do do different things on social platforms, aside from the clips like LinkedIn and Facebook, for example. I put out every couple of days, at least. I put out a post that's really talking about some of the things that we talk about here on the show, and I'll for Facebook, specific for So I'm doing it, but I'm not doing it necessarily as strategically as, say, Mel Robbins' team is doing it.

24:01 Anyone else? Just curious, if anyone else wants to share. Is anyone doing the same thing? Up, someone wants to come up. Let's see. Junaid wants to come up. Let's hear from Junaid. Welcome, Junaid. Junaid: Good morning, everyone. Yes, that's an excellent strategy that Mel Roberts has been doing. Has, you know, they've devised it, or they realized what they were missing, and this is the exact same strategy Alex Ramosi and Seth Silvers implemented last year. any views, very small, so we're gonna disconnect the audio we're just gonna focus on audio, video at all on his YouTube audio version of his podcast.

24:49 two weeks, I believe two weeks started putting the video around they edited the video. So for YouTube audience with the slide ins, the sound effects, all that stuff, and then they took all of those sound effects, everything out in the audio version, because again, as we all know, audio is a very intimate experience, and you want to keep it intimate, nobody wants to hear swooshing sounds or whatever if it doesn't make sense in the audio, and that's my, and that's my two. I wasn't trying to key you, just trying to play to the fact that you said no one wants to hear the wishes, but yes, you did follow that up and said where if it's not appropriate, and I think our wishes are used appropriately. Marc Ronick: Go ahead, Dan.

25:42 Real, Dan: yeah. So I'm just trying to dig through my desk of crap here, and I couldn't find it. I want to say it was Cumulus Media, not too long ago, did a study. It was relatively new numbers. The thing is that I'm only saying, and like what we've talked about it in the past, on YouTube, like 30 or 40% of exact number, but it's kind of a Listen to podcasts on YouTube by putting their phone in their pocket and then getting on the treadmill, going for a walk, walking the dog, doing the dishes, whatever. So again, that stuff that I think people really always need to focus on is whether you are an audio first or a video first show, like it's like what everyone's saying is true, just if you, if you're video first, edit it so it looks nice, add your whatever, you know, slide ins or whatever, but ultimately it would probably be pretty smart to always focus on that intimate feeling, just focus on making the show so it sounds good. I don't mean with great mic quality, I just mean content Yeah, is audio first for messaging, and that seems to like take care of 40% or more of the problem, because ultimately when you're communicating, it is all about getting them, the listener, to think that you are talking to just them, and it would just be weird for a guy sitting in a $4 billion TV

27:13 studio to be looking at just one person, because who would put that much money in communicating with one person, where is it, if their pocket, there's a lot easier. It's like it's such a huge cheat. Marc Ronick: Yeah, yep. Thank you, Dan. Great points. I think if we are making our shows with audio first in mind, I think that goes a long way for the experience of that consumer. I won't call them a listener, still think if we're designing audience, I think that can experience for an audio or video Ralph Estep Jr.: Marc, can I Marc Ronick: Sure, Ralph Estep Jr.: because I want to disagree with something Dan said.

27:57 I think that the video discussion as well, and I think what we're really talking about, when Janae talks about the people he talked about, he's talking about people who have built a relationship with our audience, and I don't care to be blunt, if you're building that relationship with your audience, you can have that same through video, and I think a lot and they think, well, video has the biggest thing, whether everybody's shouting, and it's a fast. You don't have to do that on video. Video works in that intimate relationship as well. that's not what Dan was saying, but I just think we need to remember that you're building relationship is video, it's do it, but don't sing, don't video have to be completely is to develop that relationship, person is coming to hear from, If you do that, to be blunt, I don't care whether you put it on audio, video, or transcribe it on a blog, it's still going to be impactful. Dan: Well, so I agree with you, it definitely can. And where I call it invisible writing, I want people reading the words that I wrote and not pay attention to any of the words.

29:14 I want them to just, the words to be invisible, and just have it almost be like the little voice inside of their head is telling them what it says on the page, it's like you're saying Marc Ronick: you, you're trying to create an experience, you're trying to evoke emotion and Well, I Dan: don't want them, I don't want them focusing on the words I'm saying, I want them to focus on the thing I'm trying to tell them. In when you're trying to get a message out, it is literally all about getting the listener or the viewer, your person who is consuming your content, to have a series of mini epiphanies. So, in other words, I want to say something, and what I'm saying is driving the conversation, but meanwhile, in your head is your listening Little voice in your head to be able to say, like, wow, you know what, I think I think I gotta listen to this guy's podcast, or I gotta buy this thing this guy's selling, because this guy is actually, he's telling me something that no one else is telling me, so when you can flip that, even with just a content, with a podcast, with a video, and it turns out that the listener or the viewer is talking themselves into giving you all of the credibility you need.

30:29 The game changes dramatically. That's why I always say just go audio first, because audio is the most, the deepest connection you can have. I'm not saying you can't have that same connection with video. I guarantee when people watch videos that me and my business partner put out, they're not thinking about, they're just thinking like, holy cow, I trust Dan. Yeah, and so again, I do feel like the way I'm interpreting what you're saying is it's really creating an experience, it's evoking emotions, and it's making people think, so yeah, I appreciate your answer. And, oh, I saw Alex wanted to say something, but I see he just had to jet, so we can't go to Alex on this one.

31:11 Sorry about that, Alex. Let's keep things moving. See, sometimes I'm wrong about these news bites, and we have more to say about them than I think. So, with that. Dr. want to take the next story. DR: Yeah, so this goes under the interesting. So the title of it is your car brand may be snitching on your podcast habits. A new analyst, I'm sorry, a new analysis says podcast listening habits can vary a lot, depending on what kind of vehicle someone drives. spend in-car audio time with drivers are more likely to stick The report points to a bigger issue for creators and advertisers, the car is still one of the most important places where people listen, but not all drivers behave the same way. Brand technology, dashboard design, income, age, and listening habits all shape what people choose when they start the engine and pretend traffic is like a normal part of civilized life.

32:23 Podcasting has always been trips, and the sacred ritual of sitting in a parked in a parking lot to finish a segment. So, knowing who listens in which vehicle can help advertisers target smarter and help podcast platforms understand where discovery really happens. So, here's the question. Let's see, room. This is that, like, a little survey that we're going to do. The room, okay? What kind of car are you driving, and what do you mostly listen to in the car, like radio music, like your mobile device podcast, or anything else.

33:06 Marc Ronick: Yeah, so for me, I think lately I go to it's both. I barely listen to the radio, so and I say I'd probably lean more especially when I'm doing a long DR: What are you driving? Marc Ronick: And I'm driving an Acura RDX, a SUV. DR: Okay, Marc Ronick: yeah. DR: So I drive a Dodge Neon, cannot get into the car without loading some stuff on my phone, which as soon as I get in, it car. Marc Ronick: Okay, put a one in the chat for those who are watching or listening.

33:52 Put a one in the chat if you still listen to the radio regularly when you're in the car. Specifically, Ralph Estep Jr.: what's the radio? What is exactly, seriously, dude? Like, does anybody even turn the radio? DR: It's crazy, because you Marc Ronick: right? DR: And I mean, music, I was born and raised around music, so for me not to have music in my life anymore, that's pretty much what it is. I don't have it in my life anymore. I have an enormous collection of CDs and vinyl that I am looking to get rid of. Wow, I just don't listen to it anymore. Ralph Estep Jr.: you know, it's interesting, Marc. I just bought Marc Ronick: Yeah, a new SUV, I bought a new cool about, I use Apple CarPlay for everything.

34:39 I've got an H Hummer, I have too, and I didn't care about the radio, because as Sid Meadows: podcasts, I don't listen over my car, I listen in soon as I synced my phone with Apple CarPlay, I was good to go, because I brought my entertainment with me, so I could care less what's in the car. So, for me, it's like you can scope me out, you can read my data all you want, because as soon as it hits the wall, it is Apple CarPlay, that's all I care about. The scary part of that is, I understand GM is thinking about discontinuing adding Apple CarPlay to their vehicles at some point in the future, which I think is a strategic mistake. But for me, it was simple: pair the phone up and I'm ready to roll.

36:53 my earbuds. I don't know why, but I don't like listening to it over the car. I feel like I have to turn it off too loud, and to the point earlier about intimacy, I really like listening to people in my ear and not over the car. If it's music, then I'm listening to it over the car, right? But I typically, no, not typically, I always listen to podcasts with my earbuds in. Marc Ronick: Interesting. Yeah, that's interesting. I'm trying to think if that's like me too. No, I think honestly, it just depends on what I'm doing, like, walk on my driveway, because I have a long, spirally inclined driveway. Those are moments where I'm going to put in my earbuds, but if I'm in my car, I'm happy to play a podcast on on the stereo through the speakers.

37:38 Yeah, Dan: I listen through the AirPods to speak. Well, they actually keep flipping back and forth. It drives me nuts on the radio, then in my ear, and it's just.. Marc Ronick: oh, yeah, that's annoying.And that happens to me too. Dan: I wanted to bring something different avenue about this. So, you know, DR. you brought up, you know, Tesla owners, for example. I'm not a Tesla owner, but it is really interesting that those numbers are kind of flawed, because Tesla people, so most radio, like, if you're a podcast fan, the type of radio you're probably going to like is going to be talk radio, right? Talk radio is usually on AM, Tesla doesn't have AM anymore, because it screws up their electronics, so if you are into talk radio or talk podcast, and you drive a Tesla, you're kind of screwed, and that's probably where we're going, as people have been trying to figure out how to get rid of the AM band for a long.. DR: well, that's interesting.

38:33 Yeah, Marc Ronick: interesting. And I feel like a lot of the AM stations, you can probably get through the internet and play them through your car that way, maybe not all. Isn't it great Dan: though? Back in the old days, like I used to have to work, or I'd have to travel across the country, and I'm sure truck drivers have this now too. Or back then, is I'd be leaving one area, like I am. I hated Rush Limbaugh, but I would listen to that guy if I had to drive somewhere because I'd be leaving Green Bay, Wisconsin, where I was living, and as soon as that station would die out, I'd just start tuning in. Oh, here's Rush again in some other town where I am. You could just literally travel across the country. That was what was really cool about AM radio.

39:14 Now we just put, you know, podcast on, or maybe get serious or something. Marc Ronick: Absolutely interesting. Yep, it is interesting. Thank you, Dan. All right, I'm gonna keep things going here, and I think what we're gonna do is I'm gonna skip a couple of stories due to time, but I do want to go to BC, because BC has some tech news updates, which is a great lead-in to our one of our top headlines of the morning, so with that, bc what do you got BC Babbles: Yes, a couple of One not so new, but I definitely missed it till today. So, for those looking to consider a Riverside for your free podcast hosting on a budget, they just launched their recording studio back in March.

39:57 Now it gives a nice cool. part, they, they've always had a quality was not always there. So, with the studio, you're Marc Ronick: Let me stop you You can keep going, but just don't, don't go too far into Riverside, because that's our one of our top headlines today with their big announcement from yesterday. Okay, go ahead. So, BC Babbles: keep it separate, but basically, with this new studio, you'll be able to create and publish right from what's it called, Substack. There you go. put your watermark, or your, publication logo on your You can have up to two co-hosts. You can't push it to, like, six plus people, like Mark does on the live stream.

40:39 You'll also get to create edible edit editable thumbnails. They've always done that before, but again, they weren't great prior to the studio. So, this is another great add-on for Substack users. And I'll leave the rest for those who want to check out this article on the show notes today. Substack, correct? Okay, that was Substack. Started saying Riverside, so that threw me. But, yeah, okay, Substack, yeah, BC Babbles: it's River Society, but not quite the same thing. Marc Ronick: I got you. BC Babbles: And now moving over to Captivate, we have some cool updates with that. Growth-minded podcast host Captivate has turned on Captivate Monetization, a full suite of tools to help its podcasters earn revenue from advertising. It comprises Captivate Market Marketplace for direct sales between your podcast and advertisers, it gives them a whole slew of ways to find your show, programmatic advertising, and existing membership and tips which is the company's dynamic content insertion engine.

41:36 There'll be a free.. there was a free webinar this past Monday, we'll send you the link. You can check out Mark Asquith, the managing managing director of Captivate, and Brian Conlin, President of DAX US, as they give their presentation. Marc Ronick: Thank you. BC, yeah, I saw Captivate last week, made those announcements about those monetization features, and yeah, I, Ralph, you do you use Captivate? Ralph Estep Jr.: I do. That's right, super supporter of Captivate. Marc Ronick: Yeah, okay, cool. So, and I am, but to imagine you're probably taking advantage Ralph Estep Jr.: I'll be honest with you, no. Marc Ronick: Okay, Ralph Estep Jr.: because I think the best way to monetize your stuff is to sell your own product or service, and I will die on that hill, my friend.

42:20 Marc Ronick: Yeah, the Ralph Estep Jr.: chase of CPM is going to be a chase that you are not going to win unless you're a Marc Ronick: Absolutely. And again, thank you for that tech update. Now let's get into, let's continue that and talk a little bit about Riverside. Riverside wants your whole content workflow. They just announced 2.0 Riverside 2.0 yesterday, calling it the biggest release in the company's history. The headline for creators: Riverside wants to be where you record, edit, publish, content from one place. For indie podcasters juggling video, audio clips, newsletters, social posts, etc.

43:06 This is Riverside saying, "Hand us that chaos, we'll try to clean it up for you. So, let me give you a couple of highlights here. First, they say that this is their first platform to span the entire creative workflow, and they claim it takes just minutes after you're recording to deliver a rough cut of your show, short form clips, a newsletter based on that episode, and posting calendar, so you can schedule things out, including, I believe, social media. Riverside says the new rollout begins with a rebuilt I've been a beta tester and have works really well. It's designed to be faster, more responsive, and more flexible for creators.

43:54 One of the biggest additions to Riverside 2.0 is the in-person multicam recording. We've talked a little bit about that in previous news episodes, that it was coming. What in this lets users record multiple cameras and mics on separate synced tracks through Riverside's Mac app. So you got to be a Mac user over the next few weeks. I mentioned newsletters. I knew about this as well as one of their beta testers. This is where creators can turn a recording into a newsletter and give audiences a page where they can subscribe. Thought that was a cool feature. I told you earlier, social scheduling, so they'll, they're adding a scheduler feature, so you can schedule out your different clips to different social media platforms, and anything else.

44:46 The company I called this out not too long ago, they changed from riverside.fm to officially riverside.com So, the big promise here is less tool hopping. The big question is whether one platform can really handle enough of the workflow to tools, and I know Junaid, you the all-in-one stuff too. saw Dave here in the Clubhouse Podglue recently, or actually, that's very cool to see our another. But I want to ask the group, we often talk about how video can be intimidating, it can be pricey for people that are just getting into podcasting, or maybe even for some of us who are, have been in it for a while, does Riverside's new feature help the barrier to entry, or are you concerned about an all-in-one place?

45:49 And I'm going to go to BC first, because I saw BC had his hand up a moment ago. Go ahead, BC. BC Babbles: Now, are all these Riverside has a free plan, Are all these features available with the free plan as well, Marc Ronick: that I don't know with their initial free trial, I would be shocked if all of these came with the free tool. BC Babbles: Fair point, I would say, though, even if it's not, it's a pretty affordable monthly So I was even gonna ask you before you asked this question, do you think this is the great time for someone to start looking at Riverside as the kind of end all be all solution, but I think this is a great way to minimize the concern for anyone who's going to hop into podcasting.

46:32 Do I have to have a website on this platform, plus socials over you have a lot of single service platforms that do just one of these things, but to have them all conglomerated into Riverside, I think, is a pretty great asset for at least starting podcasters. Marc Ronick: Fair enough. Yeah, I'm with you there. We, I see a lot of people want to chime in. Ralph. Go ahead, Sid. Sid Meadows: I have a question I have been a guest on Riverside before, but I've never actually used the platform. Are they with this new update? Are they allowing background for you to put your own backgrounds up? Like when I record my podcast to have a background, as you know, because I'm using it in eCamm. When we do our, our, our panel discussions, we have a everybody kind of framed in Does it allow for that with this new update?

47:24 Marc Ronick: It doesn't, because I have seen it available. You can choose different backgrounds. I think you can upload a background, and I think you can also choose from blurred backgrounds. Sid Meadows: Do you know of a show doing that, Marc, where I could go look at it, because I was told they didn't allow that, Marc Ronick: they do the, and no, I don't, off the top of my head, but I will say where I think I've noticed a limitation, because I've attempted it here on this show, but I think with 4k cameras it doesn't work, that's what I saw, it, it said it's limited to, you can do 10 ADP, so you can still get that high def, but if it's a 4k camera, it doesn't work. That's what that's what I've seen. So, there you go.

48:11 Okay, Ralph, coming to you. And then DR. wants to chime in. Ralph Estep Jr.: So, I'm going to give a non-technical response to this. When I work with small encourage them not to put all failure basket, and I go back to commentary on Riverside. I just think it's dangerous when you're putting all of your, all of your workflow into a single product, because if that product has an issue, if they have any downtime, you are completely invested in one thing. I'll give you a great example. This, like in my accounting practice, I use one software for tax prep, I use another software for digital storage, we use something different for email communications and CRM.

48:52 There are products out there in the accounting area where I could do it all in one, and I've steered clear of those, because if they have an issue, if they have some kind of problem, then everything I have is in that, in that particular bucket, and that's not just Riverside, like I said, shade against Riverside, just a single point of failure concerns me, that's why I like the diversification of those things, because even in my short career of podcasting, there have been times when things have been down and I've been able to pivot, or my team's been able to pivot and go use something else instead of that. And to address what Sid was talking about in eCamm, it's actually a scene, and a scene is directly. I don't know how that works in Riverside, but I think that's what Sid was talking about, is scenes that you can switch between scenes.

49:40 Marc Ronick: Fair enough. Thank you, and you know, listen, Ralph, I can't argue. You make a good case for the all in one, and I can't help, though, but to think, for especially for new podcasters, there's so much to know and so many different places to go if you're not doing an all in one that it. It could scare off, and does scare off a lot of people, and I like the idea of creating something all in one, something relatively simple that a new podcaster can jump into. All of that to be said, I think to your point, it's really important for us as podcasters to learn about some of these other things, you know, these other tools out there for that very reason, so that if you are, say, a Riverside user, and it has a day that it's down, that you know where you can pivot, you know that maybe you've learned how to use Opus Clips or Minbo, so that if you were using Riverside, and it goes down, you could quickly pivot and go to something like that, so you know it is layered, and it does fall into the well, it depends category, right?

50:52 But it is, I do see there are you're at in your podcasting DR, did you have something? DR: Yeah, I'm gonna echo what Ralph said. I have always been against the Walmartization of kind of podcasting the under everything under one roof, you know. It wasn't that long ago, Mark, that one of your good friends got kind of washed off of Insta, was it Instagram? Marc Ronick: Yes, he did get it back. That's the Dopey book, get it back DR: right, but the panic that it caused within him, the stress, yeah, the stuff that the hoops that he had to had to jump through in order to get it back was insurmountable, was crazy, crazy, and as for new easy way to go, yeah, go into The problem is, is that you kind of get comfortable in your misery, you know what, and it becomes one of those, it's good enough in every genre of life.

52:04 There are the good enoughs. Ah, it's good enough. Same thing with AI. AI wrote this for me. Ah, it's good enough. So it takes skill and everything that, that's another story. I'm going off another story, but you don't want to be a good enough. You, I think, you want to diversify from the very beginning, I really do. Marc Ronick: Okay, there you go. So, every, we've got some different differences of opinions, and some of us are agreeing with each other. Some, well, I don't think anybody's really disagreeing. I just think it's different perspectives. I think there's a place for stuff like this, and I think, like I said, especially newer would be attractive and helpful to get their show off the ground. Yes.

52:48 BC, BC Babbles: quick follow-up question for DR. Is with the new introduction of the industry it be worse if something were So, I DR: have to think about that, because you know, I understand sushi. BC Babbles: Can't forget the sushi, DR: the sushi. Marc Ronick: right, let's see. Let's squeeze in one more story, we didn't get to all of our top headlines. Let's go with which one should we go with? Let's go with number five.

53:30 DR. DR: Okay, podcast fans follow people, not platforms. Pod News shared a new sounds profitable study called the Podcast Atlas and the big takeaway is a spicy one for creators. Podcast audiences may be more portable than we think. The research says that 73% of podcast listeners would follow a creator from audio to video, and 71% would follow from long form content to short form clips, suggesting loyal audiences are increasingly attached to the creator, not So, some of the key points here is audio and video podcast listeners showed nearly identical episode completion rate, which challenges the idea that video is automatically taking over the listener experience.

54:27 Marc Ronick: Yeah, or vice Yeah, yeah. DR: Short-form clips are doing real discovery work. This study found that 84% of clip consumers say podcast clips lead them to become regular listeners, at least, well, at least sometimes, yeah, Marc Ronick: well, I mean, 84% clips lead them to become huge, especially because we hear lot, that people argue that this particular. Study is the end all be all, but it is very revealing. I mean, I don't. It certainly goes against those people arguing that social media clips don't do anything for a podcast, DR: right?

55:11 And just to finish off the highlights, the newsletters remain a powerful retention tool. This is so important. I think I'm going to repeat it. Newsletters remain a powerful retention tool among podcast newsletter subscribers. 87% said newsletters lead them to listen to episodes, which is a pretty loud reminder that matter, and the last highlight The strategic takeaway is that each format has a job: audio builds trust, video deepens connection, clips drive discovery, social keeps you visible, and newsletters help bring people Marc Ronick: back. Thank you, DR. appreciate that. So, yeah, let's..

56:03 I think that this is.. attention to all across the Those stats somewhat revealing from some of the things that we hear a lot of people talking about. So, yeah, thank you, DR. for that one. And a reminder to all of you that we are back tomorrow at 8am Eastern time, and we will be digging into the mailbag. We will be playing some Spotlight series clips for you, so that could be yours if you submit it. So, come tune in and check that out, and get a little feedback from us along the way. And I will just say, until tomorrow, make it a great day, everybody. Take care.