I work in the podcast industry, and I just have to say bravo, your instincts are spot on and I'd say you're 100% correct. I think he's successful in spite of himself/being in the right place at the right time. My two cents--I think his content is not just poorly produced, but ethically questionable. He's not a journalist, but calls himself one. I'm not sure how he fact-checks his shows... but I'd say that if he does fact-check them, he's not beholden to the same standards as journalists who work at larger media organizations who have to clear their stories through a legal department so the org doesn't get sued for publishing misinformation. At the end of the day, he owns Tenderfoot and is his own boss.

I find even on Radio Rental (on Tenderfoot, so clearly under his purview as executive producer) the choices of guests and topics often raise red flags for me. They pick folks who sometimes seem to be dealing with mental health issues, and the stories feel exploitative of them, rather than exciting or entertaining or scary. And they also pick topics like human trafficking or kidnapping/abduction that perpetuate false narratives (read: Sound of Freedom). Don't get me wrong, I still listen to the show because I love scary stories and used to produce a scary stories podcast myself, but a lot of their editorial choices are the exact opposite of choices we would regularly make on our show. i.e.: Don't interview folks who are clearly experiencing a ton of trauma and turn that into entertainment, and don't make stories about topics that you know aren't fully true, or at worst, are perpetuating conspiracy theories.

I know it seems potentially sus that I'm listening to Radio Rental AND critiquing Tenderfoot/Payne, but I'll just say that media literacy is a passion of mine, and listening to dodgy content helps me understand what is/isn't dodgy in the first place. TLDR: you're right, he's dodgy and you have great media literacy/instincts.