The New York Times has acquired the audio production company behind the popular podcast series Serial, which is widely recognized for helping to popularize the modern narrative movement of podcasts. The company, called Serial Productions, was formed in 2017 by Sarah Koenig, Julie Snyder, and Ira Glass after the initial podcast season’s success three years earlier, and the team has produced two follow-up seasons of Serial and an independent podcast called S-Town. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As part of the deal, The times is entering into what is described as a “continuous creative and strategic alliance” with This American life, the syndicated radio program from which Serial It originally broke up and for which Glass still functions as a host. The parent company of This American life will remain independent, but Serial Productions will now be considered one of The times‘independent podcast teams along with huge success The newspaper and other programs
The first joint show of the new combined teams, detailed below, begins next week:
As Serial Productions joins The Times, the team plans to produce a series of shows and series under the banner of The Times and Serial Productions. The first, “Nice White Parents,” will bring listeners together with award-winning reporter Chana Joffe-Walt as she examines the role white families play in shaping public education. You can listen to the trailer tomorrow, with the first two episodes available on Thursday, July 30 at NYTimes.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
“We are incredibly proud of ‘Serial’ and wanted to find a home where we felt shared values, one where we could receive support and resources to tell more stories, of the highest quality,” Snyder, who is the executive editor of Serial Productions, said in a statement. “We are delighted to join The Times, where they have demonstrated a commitment to pursuing the possibilities of long-running audio and narrative journalism.”
The times The deal will greatly benefit the newspaper’s growing audio journalism ambitions, but it is also a sign that the podcast market is becoming increasingly competitive and is now experiencing some consolidation as a result. Spotify, for example, is using its financial power to grab exclusives with big names like Kim Kardashian West and Joe Rogan, after acquiring major podcast production companies like Bill Simmons’ The ringer and Answer everyone parent company Gimlet Media.
Earlier today Spotify announced a new video podcast feature that will mean it is even more directly competing with YouTube. And Apple, which has remained one of the largest podcast distributors to date, also revealed plans to enter the original game with the announcement of a new daily news podcast earlier this month.
