Ashley Flowers‘ future is looking rosy thanks to a $40 million investment. Flowers, the podcast producer behind the hit show Crime Junkies, has landed funding from The Chernin Group that values her company Audiochuck at $250 million.
Crime Junkies, co-hosted by Flowers and her childhood friend Brit Prawat, evolved out of the true crime radio show Flowers hosted in her native Indiana. According to Bloomberg, the podcast version of that program is a massive hit that hauls in $45 million of annual profit and ranks second on the list of the most popular podcasts in the U.S. (Joe Rogan and his namesake Experience are first.)
Thanks to the backing from The Chernin Group — a longtime investor in creator-led media companies — Flowers will have an opportunity to build out Audiochuck and add new shows to its roster. Bloomberg notes that Crime Junkies is produced in a scattered studio that used to be a gym. That’s not the recording location you’d expect for a show with 6 million listeners.
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The Chernin Group plans to work with Flowers to hire a CEO who can oversee Audiochuck’s operations. The company’s office space is set to triple to 30,000 square feet, with its workforce doubling to nearly 130 people.
Flowers, an avid consumer of true crime podcasts, will also hunt for new shows that can join the Audiochuck network. Recent additions that have joined Crime Junkies in the company’s library have included Delia D’Ambra‘s CounterClock and the cold case series The Deck. An expansion to YouTube and potential Hollywood projects are also on the docket.
“The next phase of growth is just, ‘How do I make this really sustainable beyond me?’” Flowers told Bloomberg. “How do I make sure that if something happens to me, or when I want to take a step back, 65 people aren’t out of a job? I want it to be bigger than me.”
The rift between star creators Alex Cooper and Alix Earle has shown that growing a podcast company is not a simple endeavor, especially when the plan involves adding more egos to the mix. Flowers, however, has an advantage thanks to her position in the booming true crime niche. Amateur investigators like MrBallen have enjoyed widespread attention and publicity while also advocating for the victims of the crimes they cover. Flowers has committed $20 million to crack cold cases and support victims and their families.
The runaway success of true crime has some observers wondering if the genre is a bubble that’s liable to pop. The Chernin Group’s backing of Audiochuck is one of the biggest investments in a podcasting startup, so if the true crime boom can be sustained, Flowers will be in one of the best positions to benefit.
