All figures are pretax, and fees from agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. The Bill Simmons Podcast has been in Apple’s top 25 for the past two years and is now joined by 35 shows on the network. The flagship program raked in some $7 million last year, but the others may soon have an even bigger payoff: Spotify is reportedly looking to acquire the network.Īll earnings are from January 1, 2019, through January 1, 2020. But the audio side of the business is thriving.

JEAN BAPTISTE LACROIX/GETTY IMAGES The Bill Simmons Podcast | $7 millionįormer ESPN commentator Bill Simmons created sports website The Ringer in 2016, but it has struggled to catch on, now languishing at No. “He’s delivering scale and engagement,” says Tom Webster, senior vice president at Edison Research. Controversy notwithstanding, he is not likely to cede the top spot anytime soon. Rogan said on his show on Super Bowl Sunday that his remarks were taken out of context. The host was accused of making transphobic comments in 2013 about mixed martial artist Fallon Fox, who is a trans woman. 1 podcast in the world, according to Apple, and has claimed as many as 190 million downloads per month. His headline-making interviews with comedians, politicians, MMA fighters (Rogan moonlights as a UFC commentator) and conspiracy theorists are as big as even the biggest on talk radio. The stand-up comic launched The Joe Rogan Experience in 2009 with then-cohost Brian Redban, in the first wave of comedian podcasters that included Adam Carolla and Marc Maron. He now has the No. SCHWARTZ/GETTY IMAGES The Joe Rogan Experience | $30 million Here’s a look at what the top earners pulled in from their flagship titles: There’s something really cathartic about that.” “I think people are isolated and really lonely.” And in the case of My Favorite Murder, “it’s nice to listen and process terrible (things) together. “People are realizing that podcasting is special,” says Kilgariff. Last year they signed a deal with podcast publisher Stitcher, worth at least $10 million, that will help them finance show development and build up staff. They’ve already greenlit five shows, including This Podcast Will Kill You, which features two epidemiologists who take a sanguine approach to infectious diseases. In 2018, they created their own podcast network, Exactly Right. While still paying out a chunk of revenue every year to Chicago Public Media, Glass has already produced two films based on This American Life segments since going independent.Ĭount Kilgariff and Hardstark among the stars. Ira Glass, after 20 years hosting and producing This American Life for WBEZ, took the program private in 2015. When Spotify bought Gimlet last year, cofounder and Startup host Alex Blumberg, along with the company’s other investors, pocketed $194 million. “The lighter user is becoming a heavier user.”Īnd the biggest stars are cashing in. “A lot of people were dabbling in it, maybe finding one show they liked, and now those people are finding two or three shows that they like,” says Bruce Supovitz, senior vice president and sales director for Nielsen’s national audio services. Even Mick Jagger jumped in, signing a podcast production deal last month with Warner Bros. In 2019, Netflix and WME’s parent company, Endeavor, released scripted podcasts that have the potential to be turned into film or television. All three major talent agencies-UTA, William Morris Endeavor and Creative Artists Agency-have started representing podcasts over the last several years. Hollywood has gotten in on the action, too. Apple, the industry’s creator and de facto gatekeeper, is reportedly planning its own production effort for the first time. Last year, streaming giant Spotify spent $250 million to beef up its podcast offerings with the purchase of producers Gimlet and Parcast, while Luminary launched with the goal of becoming the Netflix of audio. “The industry has only been around for about a decade, but in the last three or four years it’s really started maturing,” said Oren Rosenbaum, head of emerging platforms at United Talent Agency (UTA) who represents the My Favorite Murder duo as well as other podcasters like Guy Raz, the host of How I Built This.Īdvertisers likely spent close to $700 million on podcasts in 2019, according to estimates by the IAB and PWC, a nearly seven-fold increase.

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