Colin Cowherd was as candid as he could be this week on The Jason Barrett Podcast. Barrett reminded Cowherd that during the 2019 BSM Summit, Cowherd told him he didn’t make a lot of time for podcasting executives at iHeartMedia because there was no way to profit from it.
Times have certainly changed as Cowherd just announced the addition of five executives to his own podcasting company The Volume. He said he was never opposed to podcasting, it just wasn’t something he gave much enough attention.
“I’m always looking for new things and I saw guys who were crushing it like Bill [Simmons] and I was happy for him. I had responsibilities and outlets and they were lucrative.”
The Volume came about because during a time when most radio shows were struggling, The Herd was experiencing uncommon success. Julie Talbot, President of Premiere Networks, called Cowherd to say that even at the height of the pandemic, his FOX Sports Radio show was experiencing ratings growth and revenue had remained stable.
“I remember getting off the phone and thinking ‘Wait a minute. My show is sold out and the ratings are good. What happens when the pandemic ends and cars are back on the road? I’m going to have nowhere to put all these spots,’” Cowherd told Barrett. “I’m going to have to create a business so if somebody says ‘I want to be in The Herd’ I can say ‘Alright, we have availability on the show, TV and radio, or on this new network I formed. Or they’ll give that money to my rivals!”
He admitted that the network has grown even faster than he had originally planned for. He attributes that success to iHeartMedia and the partnership and revenue-sharing deal the company created for The Volume.
The future is bright for The Volume according to Colin. That is why he chose to add to the company’s executive team. The company is being forced to evolve in order to keep up with what the audience is looking for.
“We started as a podcast company,” he said. “Today I would call us a digital-first, digital/podcasting/gambling company. The gambling vertical is going to continue to grow for us.”
