Conan O’Brien’s Podcast Company Sells to SiriusXM in Deal Valued Around $150 Million

Terms weren’t disclosed. The deal, which comes with a five-year talent agreement with Mr. O’Brien, is worth an estimated $150 million, according to people familiar with the sale.

The acquisition is one of the biggest moves yet by Sirius in the competition among audio companies to lock in successful podcast producers and stars with loyal followings.

Along with Mr. O’Brien and all the ad revenue from his podcasts, Sirius is getting a respected comedy brand in Team Coco. Mr. O’Brien will produce a full-time Team Coco comedy channel for the company’s satellite subscription service.

“Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” a celebrity interview show launched in 2018, ranked 26th among all podcasts by weekly listeners in the first quarter of 2022, according to Edison Research. The show accounts for more than two-thirds of the 16 million monthly downloads for all Team Coco podcasts, the company said.

Team Coco’s podcasts, including Mr. O’Brien’s flagship show and an existing spinoff in which he interviews listeners about their jobs and quirks—“Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan”—will continue to be distributed across all major podcasting platforms.

The vast majority of Team Coco was owned by Mr. O’Brien, along with Chief Executive Jeff Ross, Mr. O’Brien’s executive producer throughout the run of his TV shows, according to people familiar with the company. The Sirius deal lets Mr. O’Brien capitalize on the creative and entrepreneurial freedom he discovered in the audio world after a 28-year run on the late shift for broadcast and cable TV networks.

Team Coco is named for the fans who rallied around Mr. O’Brien after his abortive stint on “The Tonight Show.” With the end of his “Conan” show on TBS in 2021, Team Coco transformed into an independent podcasting venture. The company’s slate grew to include podcasts hosted by Nicole Byer, Rob Lowe and J.B. Smoove, the licensing rights to which pass to Sirius.

Team Coco operates out of a Hollywood headquarters recently renovated by Mr. O’Brien to have two podcasting studios and a collaborative clubhouse feel. Its staff of roughly 50, now SiriusXM employees under President and content chief

Scott Greenstein,

will develop new comedy talent, podcasts and radio content for Sirius. Sirius had a special interest in winning the bid for Team Coco, which already had a distribution and ad sales partnership with Sirius’s podcasting unit Stitcher. Sirius acquired Stitcher in 2020 as it pushed into the podcast space.

“When I started in television my ultimate goal was to work my way up to radio,” Mr. O’Brien said in a statement. “This new deal with Sirius builds on the great relationship that began several years ago with a team that is the standout in their field.”

Competition for established talent intensified as companies raced to expand their audio businesses around hit podcasts. The owners of these podcasts frequently rent out their shows in exclusive multiyear licensing deals.

Spotify Technology SA

became the home of “The Joe Rogan Experience” through 2023 with an agreement worth more than $100 million. Other head-turning deals include the streaming giant’s licensing of Alex Cooper’s hit “Call Her Daddy” podcast for about $60 million. Examples of acquisitions include Spotify’s spree on podcast heavyweights such as the Ringer, purchased for roughly $180 million in 2020.

The Team Coco purchase is Sirius’s largest podcaster acquisition, but it isn’t the first—last year the company bought 99% Invisible Inc., known for its namesake series on architecture and design.

Sirius now owns a portfolio of social-media channels that Team Coco has fed with content for over a decade. The video clips distributed on these channels generated roughly $10 million in ad revenue in 2021, Team Coco executives said last year. The company’s YouTube channel has 8.5 million subscribers and features new videos from Team Coco podcasts and past clips from the “Conan” TV show. Mr. O’Brien retained ownership of his “Conan” content and is licensing the rights to sell ads on those clips to Sirius.

Under an existing deal with HBO Max, Mr. O’Brien is developing a new streaming TV show.

The Sirius deal centers on a podcast that Mr. O’Brien was reluctant to even start when he was still on TV.

“My first thought was dismissive. Why would I do a podcast?” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.

What he couldn’t predict at the time was the leeway he would find away from TV cameras on “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” while doing long-form audio interviews and even improvising while reading advertisements from sponsors.

“It’s a business, and it’s a good business, but at this stage of my career, at this stage of my life, it’s a crazy gift,” said the 59-year-old podcaster in the interview. “It’s giving me a connection that I wasn’t getting before.”

Write to John Jurgensen at [email protected] and Anne Steele at [email protected]

Terms weren’t disclosed. The deal, which comes with a five-year talent agreement with Mr. O’Brien, is worth an estimated $150 million, according to people familiar with the sale.

The acquisition is one of the biggest moves yet by Sirius in the competition among audio companies to lock in successful podcast producers and stars with loyal followings.

Along with Mr. O’Brien and all the ad revenue from his podcasts, Sirius is getting a respected comedy brand in Team Coco. Mr. O’Brien will produce a full-time Team Coco comedy channel for the company’s satellite subscription service.

“Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” a celebrity interview show launched in 2018, ranked 26th among all podcasts by weekly listeners in the first quarter of 2022, according to Edison Research. The show accounts for more than two-thirds of the 16 million monthly downloads for all Team Coco podcasts, the company said.

Team Coco’s podcasts, including Mr. O’Brien’s flagship show and an existing spinoff in which he interviews listeners about their jobs and quirks—“Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan”—will continue to be distributed across all major podcasting platforms.

The vast majority of Team Coco was owned by Mr. O’Brien, along with Chief Executive Jeff Ross, Mr. O’Brien’s executive producer throughout the run of his TV shows, according to people familiar with the company. The Sirius deal lets Mr. O’Brien capitalize on the creative and entrepreneurial freedom he discovered in the audio world after a 28-year run on the late shift for broadcast and cable TV networks.

Team Coco is named for the fans who rallied around Mr. O’Brien after his abortive stint on “The Tonight Show.” With the end of his “Conan” show on TBS in 2021, Team Coco transformed into an independent podcasting venture. The company’s slate grew to include podcasts hosted by Nicole Byer, Rob Lowe and J.B. Smoove, the licensing rights to which pass to Sirius.

Team Coco operates out of a Hollywood headquarters recently renovated by Mr. O’Brien to have two podcasting studios and a collaborative clubhouse feel. Its staff of roughly 50, now SiriusXM employees under President and content chief

Scott Greenstein,

will develop new comedy talent, podcasts and radio content for Sirius. Sirius had a special interest in winning the bid for Team Coco, which already had a distribution and ad sales partnership with Sirius’s podcasting unit Stitcher. Sirius acquired Stitcher in 2020 as it pushed into the podcast space.

“When I started in television my ultimate goal was to work my way up to radio,” Mr. O’Brien said in a statement. “This new deal with Sirius builds on the great relationship that began several years ago with a team that is the standout in their field.”

Competition for established talent intensified as companies raced to expand their audio businesses around hit podcasts. The owners of these podcasts frequently rent out their shows in exclusive multiyear licensing deals.

Spotify Technology SA

became the home of “The Joe Rogan Experience” through 2023 with an agreement worth more than $100 million. Other head-turning deals include the streaming giant’s licensing of Alex Cooper’s hit “Call Her Daddy” podcast for about $60 million. Examples of acquisitions include Spotify’s spree on podcast heavyweights such as the Ringer, purchased for roughly $180 million in 2020.

The Team Coco purchase is Sirius’s largest podcaster acquisition, but it isn’t the first—last year the company bought 99% Invisible Inc., known for its namesake series on architecture and design.

Sirius now owns a portfolio of social-media channels that Team Coco has fed with content for over a decade. The video clips distributed on these channels generated roughly $10 million in ad revenue in 2021, Team Coco executives said last year. The company’s YouTube channel has 8.5 million subscribers and features new videos from Team Coco podcasts and past clips from the “Conan” TV show. Mr. O’Brien retained ownership of his “Conan” content and is licensing the rights to sell ads on those clips to Sirius.

Under an existing deal with HBO Max, Mr. O’Brien is developing a new streaming TV show.

The Sirius deal centers on a podcast that Mr. O’Brien was reluctant to even start when he was still on TV.

“My first thought was dismissive. Why would I do a podcast?” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.

What he couldn’t predict at the time was the leeway he would find away from TV cameras on “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” while doing long-form audio interviews and even improvising while reading advertisements from sponsors.

“It’s a business, and it’s a good business, but at this stage of my career, at this stage of my life, it’s a crazy gift,” said the 59-year-old podcaster in the interview. “It’s giving me a connection that I wasn’t getting before.”

Write to John Jurgensen at [email protected] and Anne Steele at [email protected]