A nine-figure deal is bringing changes to one of the most popular podcasts in the United States. SiriusXM has inked a blockbuster agreement with Alex Cooper, the media mogul best known as the host of Call Her Daddy.
According to Variety, the deal — which includes exclusive content from Cooper’s company Trending — could be worth as much as $125 million over three years. A different source put the size of the deal at $100 million.
The pact is a major coup for SiriusXM, which will get to work with a fast-rising Gen Z star. Cooper recently looked beyond hosting with the launch of a Trending subsidiary called The Unwell Network. She and her Unwell brethren have been conquering the Spotify podcast charts ever since, and Cooper has also brought additional star power into the fold. She even got a chance to provide Olympic commentary on Peacock during the 2024 Summer Games.
SiriusXM will gain the exclusive rights for advertising, distribution, content, and events for Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast and the audio shows in the Unwell Network. “I am beyond excited to work with SiriusXM,” Cooper said in a statement. “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. The Daddy Gang wants more, so we’re getting ready to give them more… I can’t wait for this new chapter to begin.”
A source familiar with the matter tells Tubefilter that Call Her Daddy episodes will remain available on the platform. Spotify partnered with Cooper back in 2021, when it paid $60 million to become the exclusive distributor of Call Her Daddy. Cooper had initially launched the show at the sports media company Barstool.
SiriusXM has spent freely as it looks to claim a slice of the booming podcast industry. It bought Conan O’Brien’s TeamCoco in a 2022 deal worth $150 million, and it shelled out another $100 million earlier this year to ink an exclusive agreement with Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes’ SmartLess podcast.
As massive as SiriusXM’s spending has been, it is dwarfed by the revenue flowing toward audio programs and their creators. An eMarketer report suggests that creator earnings from podcasts will cross the $1 billion mark in the U.S. by 2026.
Cooper is represented by UTA. The first exclusive pieces of content to stem from the SiriusXM deal are slated to arrive in 2025.
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