SiriusXM has announced it has acquired the Conan O’Brien-led Team Coco.
The Wall Street Journal values the acquisition at $150 million.
As part of the deal, O’Brien has signed a five-year contract with SiriusXM to continue to host his “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” podcast and to create a new full-time Team Coco channel on SiriusXM’s satellite and streaming platforms. Team Coco also features podcasts from Rob Lowe, Nicole Byer, Andy Richter, and JB Smoove that had been operated in partnership with SiriusXM’s Stitcher subsidiary.
Team Coco will also continue to operate its live events and merchandise divisions as well as being the home of the archives from O’Brien’s history on late night television.
SiriusXM today announced the acquisition of Team Coco, including the critically-acclaimed hit podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and the Conan O’Brien-led podcast network and digital media business. The transaction also brings to SiriusXM Team Coco’s staff, who will continue to produce the network’s slate of popular podcasts, as well as collaborate on content for SiriusXM.
As part of the deal, Conan has entered into a five-year talent agreement with SiriusXM, under which he will remain host of his namesake podcast, which will continue to be available widely, and will also collaborate with SiriusXM to create and executive produce a new fulltime, original Team Coco comedy channel for SiriusXM subscribers. The agreement also includes distribution of select video from Conan’s podcast as well as from the archives of his long-running late night show on TBS, live events, and merchandise from the Team Coco brands.
Since its inception over a decade ago, Team Coco has garnered more than 1 billion annual video views across YouTube and Facebook, averages 180 million annual podcast downloads, and now reaches 17 million fans across social media. Team Coco’s flagship podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, which was developed with Stitcher’s Earwolf, ranks as one of the top five most searched-for podcasts, and recently won two Webby Awards. By becoming a part of SiriusXM, the leading home of comedy in audio entertainment, Team Coco gains the promotional power of the SiriusXM, Pandora and Stitcher listening platforms – amplifying the network’s voices and extending the Team Coco brand to new audiences.
“When I started in television my ultimate goal was to work my way up to radio,” said Conan O’Brien. “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.”
“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,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer of 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.”
As part of the acquisition, SXM Media, the combined advertising sales organization of SiriusXM, expands its exclusive global ad representation beyond Team Coco’s acclaimed podcasts – such as Nicole Byer’s Why Won’t You Date Me? and JB Smoove’s May I Elaborate?, along with its Stitcher co-productions Scam Goddess with Laci Mosley, Literally! with Rob Lowe, The Three Questions with Andy Richter, and Parks and Recollection – to also include digital video, social media, and live events associated with Team Coco’s properties.
Team Coco podcasts will continue to be available on Stitcher, the SXM App, Pandora, and major podcast listening platforms.
Team Coco joins an already robust and industry-leading comedy lineup at SiriusXM, the exclusive audio home for top comics and brands, which includes channels such as Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Radio, Netflix is a Joke Radio, and Comedy Central Radio, as well as Stitcher’s Earwolf network and their collection of award-winning and critically-acclaimed shows How Did This Get Made?, Office Ladies, Storytime with Seth Rogen, and more.
SiriusXM’s acquisition of Team Coco follows that of 99% Invisible; the announcement of a global advertising agreement with podcast company Audiochuck and its top-rated podcast, Crime Junkie; an agreement with Tom Segura and Christine P’s YMH Studios to distribute and develop content; an agreement for the exclusive rights to manage all audio and video ad sales for the comedy horror show The Last Podcast on the Left; and a multi-platform agreement with Crooked Media that brings the independent progressive media company’s top-ranked podcasts to SiriusXM through the 2024 election cycle and beyond.
