Choose by workflow. Not by feature count.

Write your acceptance criteria first

Describe a release your team must complete. Include a guest name correction, a transcript, a scheduled publication time, and a recoverable previous version. Decide which steps an editor must complete without developer help. A sales demonstration can inform your shortlist, but the people doing the work should run the acceptance test themselves.

Compare responsibility as well as cost

Ask who handles updates, backups, media delivery, and support. Compare those responsibilities using the same release frequency and catalog assumptions. Include review time and manual copying in your operating model. Unknown costs should remain questions, not zeroes inserted to make a comparison look complete.

Use a reversible pilot

Pilot a limited set of records before changing the public feed. Request an export and inspect the relationships between episodes, transcripts, and artwork. Keep your current authoritative source intact during the evaluation. Record why the chosen option passed and which limitations your team consciously accepted, so future editors inherit a decision rather than a mystery.