Justin Jackson: Why RSS Feeds Still Matter

Justin Jackson grew up in Sherwood Park, Alberta, with an active radio in the house largely tuned to CBC or 630 CHED. Today he owns and operates Transistor.fm, a Canadian company that is one of the leading podcast hosting companies. We discussed the evolution of podcast hosting and where the industry is headed, and he shared how he and his partner bootstrapped the company starting in 2018 with $5,000 each, growing it into a profitable business without venture capital. He explains how observing creator behaviour—rather than relying on surveys—guided product decisions like offering multiple shows for one price and building private podcast features.

Things Bandied About:

• Why Transistor allows unlimited shows per subscription and how that model reflects actual podcaster behavior
• The role of RSS feeds in podcasting's future and why younger audiences don't inherently understand their value
• How video podcasts and HLS streaming fit into the RSS ecosystem without abandoning audio-first listeners
• Apple's demographic challenge in attracting Gen Z and Gen Alpha away from YouTube and Spotify
• Why content and format matter more than pristine audio quality, using Peter Mansbridge's "The Bridge" podcast as an example.

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