CBS Radio’s Play.It podcast network is teaming with its for now corporate cousin CBS Consumer Products to launch an officially licensed Star Trek podcast.
“ENGAGE: THE OFFICIAL STAR TREK PODCAST” will debut on Wednesday, June 15 with its first three episodes. The show will be hosted by film critic and StarTrek.com writer Jordan Hoffman. Guests in the first three shows include “Weird Al” Yankovic and Adam Nimoy. New episodes will then premiere every Wednesday starting June 22.
CBS RADIO, CBS Local Digital Media and CBS Consumer Products, today announced the launch of “Engage: The OFFICIAL Star Trek Podcast,” which will be exclusively hosted on the podcast platform Play.it. The first three episodes of the hour-long podcast will be available on Wednesday, June 15 via Play.it/StarTrek, iTunes and StarTrek.com. Starting June 22, new episodes will be released weekly.
The podcast will be hosted by Jordan Hoffman, a film critic and writer of the “One Trek Mind” blog on StarTrek.com. The three episodes available June 15 feature special guests including “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Adam Nimoy.
A celebration of one of the most iconic entertainment franchises in the Galaxy, “Engage: The OFFICIAL Star Trek Podcast” is aimed at both fans old and new. Film critic and author of StarTrek.com’s “One Trek Mind” column, Hoffman will interact with enthusiasts, interview guests, and argue the minutiae of this beloved 50-year-old fictional universe.
“There is no better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek than with the official podcast coming to CBS RADIO and CBS Local Digital Media,” said Andre Fernandez, President, CBS RADIO. “It is a groundbreaking and noteworthy franchise that we are proud to be a part of.”
“Star Trek has been a significant and integral part of pop culture for many years,” said Adam Wiener, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Local Digital Media. “We are thrilled to bring fans another outlet to connect to for their love of the franchise through the launch of the first Official Star Trek podcast on Play.it.”
“Star Trek is more than just a collection of television shows, films, books, comics and toys for me – it is one of the great loves of my life. It’s a relationship that has evolved over time and has created true, lasting connections,” said Hoffman. “There’s nothing I like more than meeting someone who might be Trek-curious and guiding them toward full-fledged devotion. I want this show to ‘engage’ with the hardcore and the neophyte alike. It’s a big galaxy out there.”
Listeners can engage with Hoffman on the official Facebook page of the podcast and on Twitter @jhoffman.
Hoffman is a film critic and writer based in New York, and a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, a film critic organization dating back to 1935. His movie reviews appear regularly in The Guardian, and he has contributed to Vanity Fair, Mashable, the New York Daily News and other outlets. Since 2011, he has written the “One Trek Mind” blog for StarTrek.com, a fan-focused humor column. In 2012, Hoffman began hosting “One Trek Mind: Live” at Star Trek conventions, a raucous, hour-long debate with fans to create top 10 lists on various Star Trek topics. In late 2014, Hoffman took on the Herculean task of ranking the near 700 episodes of the complete Star Trek franchise for Playboy.com, and in 2015 he profiled Adam Nimoy for the Los Angeles Times during his first trip to a Star Trek convention since the passing of his father, Leonard Nimoy.
Play.it offers more than 400 premium content podcasts including more than 70 digital-exclusive programs from major brands and publishers across every major category, including news & information, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, comedy, health & wellness, business and culture as well as content from CBS RADIO shows on demand.
Play.it also offers podcasts from CBS RADIO’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton, Carson Daly, and Kevin and Bean, in addition to well-known individuals like rapper and one half of Capone-n-Noreaga N.O.R.E.(Drink Champs) , former wrestler Taz (The Taz Show), television personality Stassi Schroeder (Straight Up with Stassi), and actor/director Michael Rapaport (I AM RAPAPORT: STEREO PODCAST), as well as content from leading news, lifestyle, sports and media brands including 48 HOURS, 60 MINUTES, CBS Sports Radio, Simon & Schuster and more.
