The former late-night host Conan O’Brien has sold his podcast and digital media business ‘Team Coco’ to the satellite radio giant SiriusXM.
The deal oversees O’Brien’s popular interview podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. It will also include Team Coco and 10 other podcasts. These other podcasts will include a behind-the-scenes look at his late-night shows called Inside Conan and a Parks and Recollection series. The podcast Parks and Recollection was hosted by Rob Lowe and Alan Yang. It has also joined the SiriusXM podcast network.
Conan has signed a five-year talent deal with SiriusXM. He will receive $150 million, which is part of the deal. His luck doesn’t stop here. He will also produce a comedy channel for SiriusXM’s flagship radio service. This part of the deal includes some video content from his podcasts and late-night show, as well as live events and merchandise. Team Coco’s staff is also said to join SiriusXM.
A Sealed Deal For Conan
O’Brien has been part of late-night TV since the early 1990s. He succeeded David Letterman as the host of NBC’s 12:30 AM program Late Night. He took over the network’s flagship late-night program The Tonight Show in 2010. The show underwent a transition from Jay Leno to him. Though he left the show (and the company) only 7 months later.
He re-emerged at TBS a year later and hosted late night show called Conan until last year. Right now he’s in development on a sketch show for HBO Max. It was at TBS that O’Brien began exploring podcasts, leaning on his famous friends and TV show guests to sit down for long conversations in audio form. His company had signed a first look deal with Amazon’s Audible in 2020.
SiriusXM President, Scott Greenstein’s Take On The Deal
Lately, podcast listeners have increased which makes it the hottest acquisition target in Hollywood. Mega giants like Amazon, Spotify, Apple, and SiriusXM are among the top leading buyers. The strategy behind exclusive podcasts is that it can drive subscribers to subscription-based platforms, and listeners to free platforms. With established properties (like O’Brien’s), they turn platforms into advertising businesses.
The president and chief content officer of SiriusXM, Scott Greenstein released a statement in lieu of the deal. “We are thrilled that Conan remains committed to producing his incredibly successful podcast and will now expand his role into executive producing an exclusive Team Coco radio channel for SiriusXM. Conan has built an amazing brand and organization at Team Coco with a proven track record of finding and launching compelling and addictive podcasts. We look forward to continuing to grow the Team Coco brand.”
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