Conan’s podcast network sells big

The former ‘good king’ of late-night TV is locked into a five-year deal as part of a $150 million acquisition of his production company.   

O’Brien be flyin’ 

As it turns out, Conan O’Brien is still hot property. Who knew?  

Despite it feeling like the days of huge mergers and acquisitions in podcasting were behind us, due to top podcasters embracing licensing agreements, Conan has rocked the boat. His production company, Team Coco, has been acquired by SiriusXM, and the big man is set to make serious bank.  

Team Coco was established back in 2010, and has since become a huge player in the podcasting world – helped massively by Conan’s own flagship show, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, which is widely ranked as one of the most-listened shows in the US. It accounts for more than two-thirds of the 16 million monthly downloads for all Team Coco podcasts – so chances are, you’ve probably listened yourself.    

You go, Team Coco 

Think of the podcast heavyweights, and you’ll probably land on Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper. But O’Brien is a force himself, so it’s a real outlier move to relinquish ownership of his brand. But hey, in Conan we trust, right?   

Team Coco itself has got plenty of other strings to its bow though, so while Conan is the big draw here, there are other attractive options that make it a winning purchase for SiriusXM, too. The Team Coco business boasts one billion annual video views on YouTube and Facebook, alongside its 180 million annual podcast downloads. Podcast consumption isn’t slowing down – and SiriusXM knows it.