April 22, 2026
Libsyn’s Next Chapter: Hosting, Video, Monetization, and RSS
On this episode 660 of the Coming Live New Media Show tonight, April 22nd at 6 pm EST / 3 pm PST right here on this platform or at NewMediaShow.com/Live.
Host, Rob Greenlee, is joined by Brendan Monaghan, CEO of Libsyn, for an important conversation about where one of podcasting’s most foundational companies is headed next.
Libsyn helped define podcast hosting in the early era of the medium. But in 2026, podcast hosting is no longer just about storing audio files and generating RSS feeds.
Today, creators expect far more. They want smarter monetization, broader distribution, better analytics, better video support, stronger platform integrations, and real business tools that help them compete in a much more complex media environment. Libsyn’s current positioning now emphasizes analytics, video podcast hosting, monetization, Apple Podcasts subscription integration, and YouTube publishing support.
That is why this conversation matters.
Brendan Monaghan brings a unique perspective to this moment. He is Libsyn’s President and CEO and joined the board in 2024. Before Libsyn, he co-founded and led Megaphone, which was later acquired by Spotify, and then held leadership roles at Spotify’s podcast SaaS business.
In this discussion, we look at Libsyn not just as a legacy company but as one at a strategic turning point. We explore how Libsyn can honor its role in podcasting history while also adapting to the future of audio, video, monetization, and creator-led media.
We also dig into Apple’s HLS video shift and what that means for podcast hosting platforms. Apple announced its new video podcast experience in February 2026, and later reports confirmed that Libsyn signed up with Apple Podcasts to distribute HLS video. That opens up a much bigger conversation about whether hosting companies are now becoming full media infrastructure partners, not just audio distributors.
This is also a conversation about RSS. Not whether it disappears, but how it continues to matter in a world where listening, watching, discovery, and monetization are increasingly happening across multiple closed and open platforms at once.
What makes this moment more important is that Libsyn is entering 2026 with real momentum. The company announced record creator payouts, 48 percent year-over-year ad revenue growth, 4.5 billion ad impressions, a more than 2.5x increase in the number of creators monetizing on the platform, and the launch of the Libsyn Audience Network. Libsyn also said that upfront advertiser commitments entering 2026 had doubled compared with the prior year.
If Libsyn was one of the companies that helped define podcasting’s past, the real question now is whether it can also help define podcasting’s next era.
Join us LIVE or on Replay
RobGreenlee.com
Want to create live audio and video show streams like this? Support Spoken Life by checking out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5606177711325184
Host, Rob Greenlee, is joined by Brendan Monaghan, CEO of Libsyn, for an important conversation about where one of podcasting’s most foundational companies is headed next.
Libsyn helped define podcast hosting in the early era of the medium. But in 2026, podcast hosting is no longer just about storing audio files and generating RSS feeds.
Today, creators expect far more. They want smarter monetization, broader distribution, better analytics, better video support, stronger platform integrations, and real business tools that help them compete in a much more complex media environment. Libsyn’s current positioning now emphasizes analytics, video podcast hosting, monetization, Apple Podcasts subscription integration, and YouTube publishing support.
That is why this conversation matters.
Brendan Monaghan brings a unique perspective to this moment. He is Libsyn’s President and CEO and joined the board in 2024. Before Libsyn, he co-founded and led Megaphone, which was later acquired by Spotify, and then held leadership roles at Spotify’s podcast SaaS business.
In this discussion, we look at Libsyn not just as a legacy company but as one at a strategic turning point. We explore how Libsyn can honor its role in podcasting history while also adapting to the future of audio, video, monetization, and creator-led media.
We also dig into Apple’s HLS video shift and what that means for podcast hosting platforms. Apple announced its new video podcast experience in February 2026, and later reports confirmed that Libsyn signed up with Apple Podcasts to distribute HLS video. That opens up a much bigger conversation about whether hosting companies are now becoming full media infrastructure partners, not just audio distributors.
This is also a conversation about RSS. Not whether it disappears, but how it continues to matter in a world where listening, watching, discovery, and monetization are increasingly happening across multiple closed and open platforms at once.
What makes this moment more important is that Libsyn is entering 2026 with real momentum. The company announced record creator payouts, 48 percent year-over-year ad revenue growth, 4.5 billion ad impressions, a more than 2.5x increase in the number of creators monetizing on the platform, and the launch of the Libsyn Audience Network. Libsyn also said that upfront advertiser commitments entering 2026 had doubled compared with the prior year.
If Libsyn was one of the companies that helped define podcasting’s past, the real question now is whether it can also help define podcasting’s next era.
Join us LIVE or on Replay
RobGreenlee.com
Want to create live audio and video show streams like this? Support Spoken Life by checking out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5606177711325184