Local Podcasts in a Growing Video World | David Plotz #658

About this episode

The episode discusses the potential of local podcasts in a video-dominated media landscape, emphasizing their unique strengths and the importance of local relevance.

If you are trying to understand where podcasting may still have real, untapped opportunities in 2026 and beyond, this is one of those conversations that point to an important answer: Local. On Episode 658 of The New Media Show, Host Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee shares a microphone and a video camera with guest David Plotz , founder and CEO of CityCast.fm and co-host of the Political Gabfest podcast from Slate , to: Explore what local podcasts can become in a media environment increasingly shaped by video, platforms, social discovery, and changing audience habits. The conversation starts with local audio, but it quickly opens into something bigger: trust, emotional connection, local relevance, and the question of whether city-based media may be one of the strongest growth areas left in podcasting. David frames City Cast as a network of daily local podcasts, newsletters, social content, and events, built around helping people feel more connected to the cities they live in. The real takeaway in this episode is that local podcasting is not simply a smaller version of national podcasting. It operates under a different set of strengths and constraints. Local Podcasting may never…

People in this episode

Host: Rob Greenlee

Guest: David Plotz

Topics covered

• local podcasts
• media environment
• audience habits
• trust
• emotional connection
• city-based media
• growth areas in podcasting

Keywords

• local podcasting
• media growth
• audience engagement
• CityCast
• podcasting opportunities
• trust in media
• emotional connection

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CityCast.fm, Slate

Books & works: Political Gabfest

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