In today’s podcast news roundup, Bugs and Daffy hit the road in a Thanksgiving-themed podcast from Warner Bros. Animation; NBA star Stephen Curry goes off-court with Audible; and Spotify does a deal with the Game Awards.
DATES
Warner Bros. Animation released its first scripted podcast: “Looney Tunes Presents: Bugs & Daffy’s Thanksgiving Road Trip.” All four of the original comedy podcast series’ half-hour episodes premiered Nov. 22 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and other major platforms. When Bugs and Daffy are invited to the Warner Bros. lot for a big Thanksgiving feast, Daffy is determined to make ducks the official bird of Thanksgiving — and he hatches a plan to star in a big-budget holiday movie. The only problem: Daffy isn’t famous enough to star in his own movie, so Bugs and Daffy embark on a cross-country road trip to try to raise Daffy’s profile and turn him into the “Thanksgiving Duck.” Production services for the series are provided by Story Pirates Studios; the show is produced by Sam Bair and Peter McNerney. The podcast is directed by Lee Overtree, who serves as executive producer alongside Benjamin Salka. It’s written by Minhdzuy Khorami, with an original score by Jack Mitchell.
Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries will premiere the second season of true-crime show “Lost Hills” on Dec. 1. Season 2 of the series, hosted by New Yorker writer Dana Goodyear, focuses on the suspicious drowning in January 1981 of Verna Johnson-Roehler and her young son, Doug, while boating 30 miles off the coast of Malibu. Verna’s husband, Fred Roehler, was the sole survivor and only witness. Initially, the deaths were ruled accidental. But a phone call from a Malibu neighbor changed everything. Was Fred a monster, masquerading as the perfect Malibu dad — or was an innocent man convicted by his gossiping neighbors?The 10-episode “Lost Hills” Season 2 will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other audio platforms. Listen to the trailer at this link.
Audible will premiere “15 Minutes From Home With Stephen Curry” on Dec. 9, an interview podcast hosted by the Golden State Warriors star that focuses on his life off the court, recorded as he heads home after games. Guests are slated to include Include Kevin Hart, Joel Embiid, the late Nipsey Hussle, Stacey Abrams, E40, Daveed Diggs, Ayesha Curry, Seth Curry and Kane Brown.
DEALS
The Game Awards and Spotify inked a deal under which Spotify will be the audio-livestreaming partner for the annual video-game industry event, set to take place Dec. 9 at L.A.’s Microsoft Theater. The partnership includes content and in-show elements, including the announcement of the most-streamed Spotify artists and songs on gaming platforms. In addition, Game Awards creator, executive producer and host Geoff Keighley is hosting a special four-episode podcast, “Inside The Game Awards,” exclusively available on Spotify beginning Monday, Nov. 22.
SiriusXM’s Stitcher signed a development deal with Christopher Rivas (Fox’s “Call Me Kat”) for two new shows slated to premiere in 2022. The first will be a documentary-style investigation of Dominican diplomat Porfirio Rubirosa, the man believed to be the inspiration for James Bond; the second will be a 40-episode interview-style show about the experiences of people “between Black and white in America,” according to Stitcher.
Journalist and author Katie Hafnerand bioethicist Amy Scharf announced that the “Lost Women of Science” podcast series will continue for an additional three seasons after a grant award of $446,760 from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The podcast will continue its partnership with public media organization PRX and Scientific American magazine.
LiveOne, and owner of LiveXLive, PodcastOne, Slacker Radio, React Presents, Gramophone Media and Custom Personalization Solutions, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Palm Beach Records in Boca Raton, Fla. As part of the deal, LiveOne also plans to expand the studio’s music operations and launch a full-service podcast recording studio. The Palm Beach Records studio, home to notable rappers including Kodak Black, will continue to be led by founder Christian “Rekstarr” Ocampo.
GREENLIGHTS
Tenderfoot TV announced its first podcast funded entirely by Bitcoin: investigative documentary series “From Nowhere,” hosted by journalist and Epicleff Media founder Matt Schrader. Slated to debut in early 2022, theshow promises to tell “the definitive story of Bitcoin” and uncover the “dark past of the crypto world.”The series is written and hosted by Schrader, who also is executive producer of “Score: The Podcast” and creator of scripted “biopod” series “Blockbuster” on Apple Podcasts. “From Nowhere” is produced by Alex Vespestad, who previously produced Tenderfoot TV’s “To Live and Die In L.A.” and the sports documentary podcast “Whistleblower.”
