Business Media Production

Running a Podcast Network

Build, operate, and grow a multi-show podcast business with clear systems, smart programming, and sustainable revenue

Running a Podcast Network logo
Quick Course Facts
20
Self-paced, Online, Lessons
20
Videos and/or Narrated Presentations
6.9
Approximate Hours of Course Media
About the Running a Podcast Network Course

Running a Podcast Network is a practical Business course for creators, media teams, and operators who want to manage more than one show with confidence. You will learn how to Build, operate, and grow a multi-show podcast business with clear systems, smart programming, and sustainable revenue.

Build A Strong Podcast Network Business

  • Create a focused network position, audience promise, and show portfolio that supports long-term growth.
  • Develop repeatable production, publishing, quality control, and team workflows across multiple shows.
  • Use programming strategy, analytics, and cross-promotion to make better decisions for every show.
  • Plan sponsorships, advertiser packages, subscriptions, events, licensing, and financial systems for sustainable revenue.

This course teaches the strategy, operations, and monetization skills behind Running a Podcast Network.

You will begin with the foundations of what makes a podcast network work, including how to choose a clear position in the market, define an audience promise, and design a strong portfolio of shows. From there, you will learn how to evaluate new show ideas, greenlight projects, and set editorial standards that keep the network consistent without making every show feel the same.

The course also covers the operational side of the Business, including host recruitment, onboarding, agreements, producer roles, editing workflows, scheduling, file management, publishing systems, brand safety, and legal basics. These lessons help you move beyond improvisation and create repeatable systems that make a multi-show network easier to manage.

You will explore audience growth through cross-promotion, social content, newsletters, and community systems, then learn how analytics can guide programming and Business decisions. The monetization section shows how to think about sponsorship models, ad inventory, sales materials, subscriptions, events, branded shows, licensing, financial planning, and unit economics.

By the end of the course, you will have built a 12-month network operating plan and gained the practical skills to Build, operate, and grow a multi-show podcast business with clear systems, smart programming, and sustainable revenue. You will leave prepared to run a more organized, measurable, and scalable podcast network.

Course Lessons

Full lesson breakdown

Lessons are organized by topic area and each includes descriptive copy for search visibility and student clarity.

Network Foundations

3 lessons

This lesson defines what a podcast network is, why networks exist, and what separates a real network from a loose group of shows under one banner. You will learn the core operating logic of a network:…

Lesson 2: Choosing a Network Position and Audience Promise

20 min
In this lesson, Professor Amanda Davis explains how a podcast network chooses a clear market position before it starts adding shows, pitching sponsors, or building audience funnels. A network position…

Lesson 3: Designing a Strong Show Portfolio

21 min
In this lesson, Professor Amanda Davis explains how to design a podcast network portfolio that is coherent, scalable, and commercially useful. A strong portfolio is not just a collection of interestin…

Programming Strategy

2 lessons

Lesson 4: Evaluating and Greenlighting New Shows

19 min
Greenlighting new shows is one of the highest-leverage decisions in a podcast network because every launch consumes editorial attention, production capacity, sales focus, and brand credibility. This l…

Lesson 5: Building Editorial Standards Across the Network

18 min
This lesson gives podcast network operators a practical system for creating editorial standards that protect audience trust while still allowing each show to keep its own voice. It focuses on standard…

Talent and Team

2 lessons

Lesson 6: Host Recruitment, Onboarding, and Agreements

22 min
This lesson covers how a podcast network can recruit hosts with clear audience fit, evaluate them beyond charisma, and create an onboarding process that protects show quality from day one. You will le…

Lesson 7: Producer, Editor, and Operations Roles

19 min
This lesson defines the core production roles that keep a podcast network reliable: producers, editors, and operations staff. You will learn what each role owns, where responsibilities overlap, and ho…

Production Operations

3 lessons

Lesson 8: Creating a Repeatable Production Workflow

23 min
This lesson shows how to turn podcast production from a collection of heroic one-off efforts into a repeatable operating system. For a podcast network, the goal is not just to publish one good episode…

Lesson 9: Scheduling, File Management, and Publishing Systems

20 min
This lesson turns production operations into a repeatable system for a podcast network. Students learn how to coordinate calendars across multiple shows, manage file handoffs without confusion, and pu…

Lesson 10: Quality Control, Brand Safety, and Legal Basics

22 min
This lesson gives podcast network operators a practical control system for protecting audio quality, audience trust, advertiser relationships, and the legal standing of the business. It focuses on rep…

Publishing and Distribution

1 lesson

Lesson 11: Distribution, Hosting Platforms, and Feed Strategy

18 min
This lesson explains how a podcast network should think about distribution as an operating system, not a one-time upload task. Students learn how hosting platforms, RSS feeds, destination directories,…

Audience Growth

2 lessons

Lesson 12: Cross-Promotion Between Shows

19 min
Cross-promotion is one of the main advantages of operating a podcast network instead of a collection of isolated shows. When done well, it moves listeners from one relevant program to another, increas…

Lesson 13: Social, Newsletter, and Community Growth Systems

21 min
This lesson builds a practical growth system for a podcast network across social channels, newsletters, and community spaces. Instead of treating each show as a separate content island, the network us…

Measurement and Decisions

1 lesson

Lesson 14: Using Analytics to Improve the Network

22 min
This lesson shows how a podcast network can turn analytics into better programming, marketing, operations, and revenue decisions. Instead of treating downloads as the only scorecard, students learn to…

Monetization

3 lessons

Lesson 15: Sponsorship Models and Ad Inventory

23 min
This lesson explains how a podcast network turns audience attention into sellable sponsorship inventory without damaging the listener experience. You will learn the main sponsorship models used across…

Lesson 16: Building Advertiser Packages and Sales Materials

21 min
In this lesson, Professor Amanda Davis explains how to turn a podcast network's audience, programming strengths, and production capabilities into advertiser-ready packages. The focus is not on closing…

Lesson 17: Subscriptions, Events, Branded Shows, and Licensing

20 min
This lesson expands the network monetization model beyond spot ads and sponsorship packages. You will learn how to evaluate subscriptions, live and virtual events, branded shows, and licensing as dist…

Scaling the Business

2 lessons

Lesson 18: Financial Planning and Network Unit Economics

24 min
This lesson explains how to plan the finances of a podcast network using practical unit economics rather than vague growth targets. Students learn how to model revenue, direct show costs, shared overh…

Lesson 19: Scaling Without Losing Quality

20 min
This lesson focuses on how a podcast network can grow its show count, audience, team, and revenue without letting creative standards, production reliability, or brand trust erode. Scaling is not just …

Capstone

1 lesson

Lesson 20: Building a 12-Month Network Operating Plan

25 min
In this capstone lesson, students assemble the moving parts of a podcast network into a practical 12-month operating plan. The focus is not on inventing a perfect forecast, but on creating a usable pl…
About Your Instructor
Professor Amanda Davis

Professor Amanda Davis

Professor Amanda Davis guides this AI-built Virversity course with a clear, practical teaching style.