Podcasting’s Identity Crisis: Who Controls Podcasts Now? | James Cridland #688

About this episode

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