November 12, 2026
Podcast News Daily — City Cast Enters Next Chapter With New CEO, Record Revenue And Bigger Ambitions
Podcast News Daily
City Cast is entering a new chapter as co-founder Andi McDaniel takes over as CEO from David Plotz, who is stepping away after six years of building the local media network. The leadership change comes as City Cast continues to expand its audience, reports record revenue and looks to turn its growing reach across podcasts, newsletters and other platforms into a profitable business.
The transition has been underway for several months. McDaniel has served as interim CEO while Plotz focused on a major expansion of City Cast's Washington newsroom. With that operation now under new leadership, Plotz says the timing felt right to move on.
"I realized a couple of things, that it was probably time for me to make a change," Plotz explained in an interview. He said watching McDaniel lead the company during his time in Washington reinforced his confidence that she was ready to take over permanently.
Plotz hasn't decided what comes next, although he plans to continue co-hosting Slate's weekly "Political Gabfest," a role he has held for 21 years. McDaniel, meanwhile, brings experience from public radio, including her tenure as Chief Content Officer at WAMU Washington, where she helped launch the national program "1A" and developed the station's podcast division.
From Podcasts To Multimedia
City Cast has come a long way since Plotz and McDaniel launched the company in 2020 with a vision of rebuilding connections between people and the communities where they live. What began as a small podcast and newsletter operation has grown into a network spanning 13 cities, reaching approximately 1.5 million listeners and readers.
The company has also expanded well beyond its original audio roots. Podcasts and newsletters remain central to its local brands, but City Cast now reaches audiences through websites, social media, membership programs and live events. Most of its audience is between 21 and 44, a demographic that traditional local news organizations have often struggled to attract.
Perhaps the clearest example of City Cast's evolution is in Washington, where the company seized an opportunity created by cutbacks at The Washington Post to significantly expand its local reporting.
Plotz spent much of the past six months overseeing that effort, helping build a newsroom that now includes eight reporters. The results have been substantial. He says City Cast's monthly audience in Washington has climbed from approximately 100,000 to nearly 300,000 in October, fueled by growth in its website, newsletters and social media.
"We've gone from not really being a primary source of news in D.C. to being an increasingly essential newsroom for local Washington," Plotz said.
McDaniel cautions that Washington's expanded newsroom isn't necessarily a model City Cast will replicate everywhere. The economics and audience opportunities vary considerably by market. But she says lessons from D.C., particularly around original reporting, sponsorships and audience development, are already influencing the broader network.
Where Podcasts Fit In
Despite City Cast's origins in podcasting, audio now accounts for a minority of its total audience. Plotz estimates podcasts represent approximately 15% to 20% of City Cast's audience in Washington and closer to 25% in its other markets. But he says those figures understate audio's importance to the business.
"If you look at time spent on City Cast, audio is still the most time spent on City Cast," Plotz explained. He describes podcast listeners as City Cast's most engaged and loyal audience, even as newsletters and other digital platforms attract more people.
That distinction also extends to advertising. McDaniel says newsletters generate substantially more revenue than podcasts because of their greater reach. Yet audio remains an important part of City Cast's sponsorship packages, particularly because of the connection between hosts and listeners.
"I honestly think the best advertising product that we make is just like our host read ads," McDaniel said. "Our hosts talk about the organization or talk about the product in a way that feels really fun, and sometimes it's funny and it's really authentic and it's memorable."
The strategy reflects a broader lesson McDaniel says City Cast has learned about the economics of podcasting.
"I think podcasting is a hard thing to make the business work on its own," McDaniel said. She credits the early decision to combine podcasts with newsletters, and subsequently expand into other platforms, with helping City Cast diversify both its audience and revenue opportunities. "We have to be a lot of things, and that also allows us to diversify on the revenue side," she said.
Record Revenue In Q3
The multiplatform strategy is beginning to produce stronger financial results, although City Cast has not yet reached profitability. McDaniel says the company has revamped its sales strategy and introduced new systems that are beginning to deliver results. The third quarter was City Cast's strongest revenue quarter to date, and McDaniel expects the fourth quarter to set another record.
"We're feeling really optimistic going into the next year," she said.
McDaniel declined to set a timetable for profitability, although she suggested the goal is within reach. Both executives credited parent company Graham Holdings with providing the long-term financial backing needed to develop a business model that takes time to mature.
Memberships and live events are also becoming increasingly important pieces of that strategy. City Cast's paid Neighbors program currently includes quarterly members-only events, and McDaniel says the company wants to increase their frequency while also offering more events to the general public.
She sees a growing opportunity to bring local audiences together in person, particularly as artificial intelligence changes how people interact with information.
"As AI creates sort of more and more of a mediated experience of information, it leaves people craving more connection, more of something real, more of something human, and nothing does that quite like events," McDaniel said.
City Cast plans to put greater emphasis on events in 2027, which McDaniel believes could also open another meaningful revenue stream.
More Cities Eventually
While City Cast's long-term ambitions remain substantial, McDaniel isn't planning to rush into new markets. The network currently operates in 13 cities, but she says the eventual goal could be as many as 50.
"Probably not in 2027, but we do plan to add eventually quite a lot more markets," she said.
Before expanding, City Cast wants to refine its operating model, including determining the right mix of content and how relatively small local teams can effectively serve audiences across multiple platforms.
That doesn't necessarily mean launching more podcasts in existing markets, either. McDaniel says the company has discussed expanding its audio offerings, including potentially working with other local podcasters.
Sports is another category that has generated internal debate, although sports content generally hasn't performed particularly well on City Cast's existing podcasts. Plotz noted that sports podcast audiences often extend far beyond a team's home market, making them a less natural fit for City Cast's geographically focused business.
For McDaniel, the bigger opportunity remains strengthening the company's position as a trusted source of local information and conversation. And while City Cast's future increasingly depends on reaching audiences in different ways, she believes the personal connection that made local radio successful remains central to what the company is building.
"What we all love or loved about local radio has to do with that sense of personality and intimacy and accessibility," McDaniel said. "There is something really special about the audio medium in that regard."