New York
CNN
—
Alex Cooper, the host of the popular, unfiltered sex and relationship podcast “Call Her Daddy,” is ending her own relationship — with Spotify.
Cooper signed a multi-year agreement with SiriusXM, giving the platform exclusive advertising and distribution rights, as well as other content and events. The deal is worth more than $100 million, according to reports, and would bring exclusive content to SiriusXM starting next year.
SirisuXM also received exclusive global ad sales rights to all editions of Cooper’s Unwell Network, which includes podcasts “Hot Mess with Alix Earle,” “Pretty Lonesome with Madeline Argy,” “Boyfriend Material with Harry Jowsey” and “In Your Dreams with Owen Thiele.”
“Call Her Daddy”— Spotify’s second-biggest podcast in 2023, behind only “The Joe Rogan Experience” — is yet another popular podcast to leave its streaming platform behind for SiriusXM.
In January, Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes left Amazon to take their podcast “SmartLess” to SiriusXM for a three-year deal valued at $100 million.
While SiriusXM has “doubled down on our commitment to podcasting,” Scott Greenstein, president and chief content officer of SiriusXM said in a January release, Spotify has had to slash its staff to make up for the more than $1 billion it has spent on podcasting, much of which went toward deals with celebrities to make podcasts that never materialized and acquiring podcast studios that it later shuttered.
While $100 million might sound like a staggering amount for a podcast, Cooper has raked in millions before. In 2021, Cooper left Barstool Sports for a Spotify three-year agreement reportedly worth $60 million.
“The Daddy Gang will always be my top priority, and with SiriusXM we will continue to find new ways to evolve and provide my listeners the best experience,” Cooper said in a statement. The Daddy Gang refers to Cooper’s listeners.
Since launching in 2018 with former co-host Sofia Franklyn, Cooper has become the most listened-to female podcaster in the world, SiriusXM said in a release. “Call Her Daddy” has interviewed music stars from Zayn Malik and Christina Aguilera to actors Jane Fonda and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Even though SiriusXM now holds the advertising rights, “Call Her Daddy” and the Unwell Network will still be available on Spotify, where the majority of listeners remain.
