Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/01/30/smartless-podcast-with-jason-bateman-will-arnett-and-sean-hayes-going-to-siriusxm-for-100-million.html
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I don’t know if it’s worth $100 million or not, but I decided to check it out and they really do have good reporte and banter, and they get some amazing guests for the show. I know Jason and Will worked together on Arrested Development, but not sure how they connected with Sean, whom I remember best from Will & Grace.
I like the show but the “jokes” about food and eating habits are starting to be a bit much.
I liked the first handful of episodes that I listened to, but as I listen to more and more, I realized that I just wanted the hosts to shut the hell up and talk to the guest.
I felt almost embarrassed that they got this super interesting high profile guest to come on the show, and they spend such a huge amount of time just talking amongst themselves and making stupid jokes that aren’t relevant to what is being discussed.
Will Arnett and Sean Hayes said they became friends after Arnett appeared in a guest spot on Will & Grace. They also later starred in the sitcom The Millers.
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I understand that Bateman, Arnett, and Hayes have developed an entertaining show and also get that they would love to share in a 100 million dollar contract. The aspect I don’t entirely understand is how SiriusXM plan to handle the show. The SirusXM service is available in lots of cars in North America and can be accessed through a geography-restricted and paid smartphone app (blah blah, yeah VPN, whatever. I’m talking as-is). They also own Pandora, which I rather like, but again… georestricted outside of the US. Are they planning to roll out SirusXM, Pandora, or some other application internationally so they can take advantage of the potential international market Bateman and friends have built to sell to advertisers or is this a strategy to paywall a previously free podcast inside the US only for paid subscribers only or are they planning some other path for this endeavor?
I doubt it is. How can Sirius ever make their money back just through increased subscriptions and ad sales? I genuinely don’t understand the economics at play here.
That said, I’m glad they got more money than Joe Rogan. I just wish the entire podcast bubble would finally deflate, so it can go back to being an art form that flies under the radar of mass adoption and has a continuing low barrier of entry.
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I assume, like many podcasts, they will have a free feed and a subscriber feed. In this case the free feed is likely to continue as the same RSS feed they use now, while the subscriber feed is delivered through Sirius.
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