Funnyman Conan O’Brien will be laughing all the way to the bank after selling his media company, Team Coco, and hit podcast to SiriusXM on Monday.
The deal, which comes with a five-year talent agreement with the former late night host, is worth an estimated $150 million, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
He will bring his hugely successful “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast to the satellite radio company, home to a growing list of comedy channels anchored by Howard Stern’s hit show.
“When I started in television my ultimate goal was to work my way up to radio,” O’Brien quipped, before turning serious. “This new deal with SiriusXM builds on the great relationship that began several years ago with a team that is the standout in their field.”
The deal marks one of the biggest by audio companies buying successful podcasts produced by stars with loyal followings.
Since its inception over a decade ago, Team Coco has garnered more than 1 billion yearly video views across YouTube and Facebook, and averages 180 million annual podcast downloads, the company said. It also reaches 17 million fans across social media.
As part of the deal, Team Coco’s staff will join SiriusXM, and continue to produce the network’s slate of podcasts, including “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” which includes interviews with celebrities by the former “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Conan” host.
The podcast — which was launched in 2018 and developed by Stitcher’s Earwolf, part of the Midroll Media company bought by SiriusXM for $325 million in 2020 — is one of the top five most searched-for shows, the company said. It averages about 10 million downloads a month, according to The Journal.
O’Brien will also collaborate with SiriusXM create and executive produce a new full-time, original Team Coco comedy channel for SiriusXM subscribers. The agreement will also include select videos from O’Brien’s podcast and from his long-running late-night show on TBS, “Conan,” which ended in 2021.
“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,”said Scott Greenstein, president and chief content officer of SiriusXM.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
