July 31, 2026
Podcasting Beyond the Download | Casey Adams, Listener.com #673
In Episode 673 of the New Media Show, host 2017 Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee welcomes Casey Adams, founder and CEO of Listener.com and host of The Casey Adams Show, for a timely conversation about how podcasting, video, social content, advertising, and new media measurement are rapidly converging.
For more than 20 years, podcasting has relied heavily on RSS feeds, downloads, and audio-first measurement as the foundation of distribution and advertising value. That still matters, but the media environment around it has changed dramatically.
Shows now are distributed across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, social video, newsletters, clips, livestreams, and direct audience communities. Audiences may call it all a podcast, even as the industry continues to debate its technical definition.
Casey brings a founder, creator, and investor perspective to the discussion. He started podcasting as a teenager, interviewing founders and entrepreneurs, and later built MediaKits.com before moving into podcast analytics with Listener.com. His current work focuses on helping modern publishers understand how a single episode performs across audio, long-form video, short-form clips, newsletters, and social platforms.
Rob and Casey explore why the term “podcast” now means different things to different groups. To many longtime industry professionals, podcasting still points back to RSS-based audio distribution. To many younger listeners and viewers, it means a format: a recurring show, often conversational, often video-enabled, and consumed wherever attention already exists.
The conversation centers on one of the biggest questions facing podcasting and new media right now:
How do you measure the true value of a show when the audience is no longer in one place?
Rob and Casey also discuss why the download can no longer carry the entire weight of podcast measurement.
A single episode may now generate value through an Apple Podcasts listen, a Spotify stream, a full YouTube view, a YouTube Short, a TikTok clip, a LinkedIn post, an X post, a newsletter mention, and a brand integration that travels across all of those surfaces. Each platform counts activity differently. Each platform has its own audience behavior. That makes reporting, sponsorship value, and campaign analysis more complex.
Casey explains Listener.com’s concept of episode clusters: grouping the full set of related content around a single episode so publishers and advertisers can see the broader cross-platform reach and performance.
Instead of treating the audio file as the entire campaign, an episode cluster recognizes that one conversation can become long-form video, social clips, newsletter content, and multiple ad touchpoints.
We also discuss the rising influence of creator-led media companies. Examples like TBPN, Jomboy Media, Substack’s media activity, and venture-backed new media brands show how independent shows and creator-driven networks are increasingly competing with legacy media for attention, trust, and advertiser value.
0:00 The Evolving Landscape of Modern Media
3:38 Meet the Founder of Listener.com
6:27 A Personal Journey Through Podcasting
12:03 Redefining the Term Podcaster
16:45 The Conflict Between Old and New Media
29:56 Treating Your Show Like a Media Company
40:52 Visualizing Cross-Platform Data
59:16 Why Founders Are Controlling Their Narrative
1:13:44 The Future of Creator-Brand Partnerships
Guest Links: Casey Adams, Founder and CEO, Listener.com
Listener.com: https://listener.com
Casey Adams Show & Website: https://www.caseyadams.com
The Casey Adams Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-casey-adams-show/id1328795944
Casey Adams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-adams-430b3114a/
Casey Adams on X: https://x.com/CaseyAdams
Casey Adams on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casey/
Host: Rob Greenlee and New Media Show Links
Rob Greenlee Website: https://robgreenlee.com
New Media Show: https://newmediashow.com
New Media Show Audio on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
New Media Show on YouTube: @TheNewMediaShow" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow
Rob Greenlee on YouTube: @RobGreenlee" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/@RobGreenlee
Podcast Hall of Fame: https://podcasthall.com
For more than 20 years, podcasting has relied heavily on RSS feeds, downloads, and audio-first measurement as the foundation of distribution and advertising value. That still matters, but the media environment around it has changed dramatically.
Shows now are distributed across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, social video, newsletters, clips, livestreams, and direct audience communities. Audiences may call it all a podcast, even as the industry continues to debate its technical definition.
Casey brings a founder, creator, and investor perspective to the discussion. He started podcasting as a teenager, interviewing founders and entrepreneurs, and later built MediaKits.com before moving into podcast analytics with Listener.com. His current work focuses on helping modern publishers understand how a single episode performs across audio, long-form video, short-form clips, newsletters, and social platforms.
Rob and Casey explore why the term “podcast” now means different things to different groups. To many longtime industry professionals, podcasting still points back to RSS-based audio distribution. To many younger listeners and viewers, it means a format: a recurring show, often conversational, often video-enabled, and consumed wherever attention already exists.
The conversation centers on one of the biggest questions facing podcasting and new media right now:
How do you measure the true value of a show when the audience is no longer in one place?
Rob and Casey also discuss why the download can no longer carry the entire weight of podcast measurement.
A single episode may now generate value through an Apple Podcasts listen, a Spotify stream, a full YouTube view, a YouTube Short, a TikTok clip, a LinkedIn post, an X post, a newsletter mention, and a brand integration that travels across all of those surfaces. Each platform counts activity differently. Each platform has its own audience behavior. That makes reporting, sponsorship value, and campaign analysis more complex.
Casey explains Listener.com’s concept of episode clusters: grouping the full set of related content around a single episode so publishers and advertisers can see the broader cross-platform reach and performance.
Instead of treating the audio file as the entire campaign, an episode cluster recognizes that one conversation can become long-form video, social clips, newsletter content, and multiple ad touchpoints.
We also discuss the rising influence of creator-led media companies. Examples like TBPN, Jomboy Media, Substack’s media activity, and venture-backed new media brands show how independent shows and creator-driven networks are increasingly competing with legacy media for attention, trust, and advertiser value.
0:00 The Evolving Landscape of Modern Media
3:38 Meet the Founder of Listener.com
6:27 A Personal Journey Through Podcasting
12:03 Redefining the Term Podcaster
16:45 The Conflict Between Old and New Media
29:56 Treating Your Show Like a Media Company
40:52 Visualizing Cross-Platform Data
59:16 Why Founders Are Controlling Their Narrative
1:13:44 The Future of Creator-Brand Partnerships
Guest Links: Casey Adams, Founder and CEO, Listener.com
Listener.com: https://listener.com
Casey Adams Show & Website: https://www.caseyadams.com
The Casey Adams Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-casey-adams-show/id1328795944
Casey Adams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-adams-430b3114a/
Casey Adams on X: https://x.com/CaseyAdams
Casey Adams on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casey/
Host: Rob Greenlee and New Media Show Links
Rob Greenlee Website: https://robgreenlee.com
New Media Show: https://newmediashow.com
New Media Show Audio on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
New Media Show on YouTube: @TheNewMediaShow" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow
Rob Greenlee on YouTube: @RobGreenlee" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/@RobGreenlee
Podcast Hall of Fame: https://podcasthall.com