Making Media · Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Building a Podcast Empire with Jack Davenport

·44 min·2 clips

Goalhanger spun off as a separate company in January 2022 and now treats podcasts as the core business.

1. Making Media talks with Jack Davenport about Goalhanger Podcasts and the company’s move from TV production into audio-first publishing. 2. Jack Davenport is managing director and co-founder of Goalhanger, while Gary Lineker is the co-owner who opens doors for the company in UK media. 3. The episode asks whether Goalhanger’s growth came from topic choice, host chemistry, or the economics of high-volume podcasting. 4. Jack says Goalhanger reaches about 30 million downloads a month and now has shows including The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics, The Rest Is Football, The Rest Is Money, and The Rest Is Entertainment. 5. He describes the company’s start as a TV production outfit making sport documentaries for the BBC and FIFA before testing podcasts in 2018. 6. He says a 2019 Second World War podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk, ran to about 700 episodes and showed the value of history audiences. 7. Jack explains that The Rest Is History was built to keep the barrier to entry low, with standalone episodes on Henry VIII, Watergate, Richard Nixon, and the Tudors. 8. He says The Rest Is History led Goalhanger to decide that podcasting, not television, was the company’s future. 9. He says Goalhanger became a separate podcast company in January 2022 and monetizes original IP through ads, subscriptions, and live events. 10. Jack gives a revenue split of about 60% from advertising and says the company works with Spotify in the UK and Megaphone. 11. He says memberships cost 5-6 pounds a month and include bonus content, ad-free listening, chat communities, and early access to live tickets. 12. He says The Rest Is History used four- and six-part mini-series on the Aztecs and the Spanish conquistadors to drive membership sign-ups. 13. Jack says live events can work at scale, citing Royal Albert Hall, seven politics shows, and about 35,000 tickets on sale for a UK tour. 14. He says the company now thinks of Goalhanger as a B2B brand, while the individual show names still do most of the audience building. 15. He says leaving Acast for Spotify gave Goalhanger more freedom to handle partnerships directly rather than relying on a third-party sales house. 16. He says the BBC relationship continues through a football show, and Wondery commissioned Legacy with Peter Frankopan and Afua Hirsch as a strategic US move. 17. The interview is practical and numbers-driven, with Jack giving direct answers about downloads, revenue percentages, ticket counts, and launch timelines. 18. The tone stays conversational and business-focused, with the hosts pressing on marketing, host incentives, and whether the network brand matters. 19. Listeners interested in podcast business models and UK media. 20. Listeners wanting celebrity gossip or a pure entertainment chat.

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