Back in 2010, “Survivor” Hall of Famer Rob Cesternino started a show “Rob Has a Podcast,” in which he recapped reality competition shows. As a former contestant, Cesternino approached his commentary as a fan first but also a person with knowledge of the ins and outs of the production.
Four years later, his side hustle turned into a full-time job. His podcast network expanded to 33 companion style podcasts hosted by a variety of knowledgeable hosts.
“When reality television started, they would talk about it as water cooler talk. You go to your office, and you talk to people about what you watched on TV last night,” he told TheWrap. “Well, now a lot of people don’t go to an office, and there is no place for people to engage in conversation around these reality television shows that they love, and podcasting is a great way to have that.”
Over the last few years, that conversation shifted towards podcasts, and with streaming reviving the popularity of old shows, it created an opening for stars of long-concluded shows to revisit their series (and monetize the ongoing fandom) by launching programs like Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey’s “Office Ladies,” Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa’s “Talking Sopranos” and Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle’s “Pod Meets World.” The Gen Z-hosted “Girls Rewatch Podcast” has also gained popularity as a new generation of fans find the HBO cult hit.
But now the streamers themselves want a piece of this pie, launching their own companion podcasts. Peacock topped the charts among all TV companion podcasts for its streaming hit “The Traitors Official Podcast,” hosted by Season 3 alums. Other platforms like HBO have prioritized podcasting as an extension of its prestige television since 2019. And Netflix launched podcasts on its platform just last month, announcing its first companion show for Season 4 of “Bridgerton.”
The trend marks the latest indication of how important podcasts have become as a medium. For the streamers, they’ve become a strategic priority because they deepen engagement, extend storytelling and keep buzzy shows in the cultural conversation between episodes. Framed as both fan service and a business opportunity, these official aftershows promise intimacy, access and insight — even as their growing prominence raises questions about who controls the narrative, how much independence they have and what’s lost when fan-driven spaces become studio-sanctioned.
“These podcasts serve as a powerful extension of a show’s narrative, deepening engagement with our fans and enriching the overall storytelling experience,” Shannon Ryan, president of DTC & Disney Entertainment Television Marketing, told TheWrap. “The podcast format also creates a uniquely intimate environment — the interviews feel more like candid, personal conversations between friends — where our creators and casts give fans a peek behind the curtain and break down each episode in an engaging and entertaining way.”
Why streamers value companion podcasts
The top streaming platforms view their in-house companion podcasts not just as an extension of their marketing efforts, but as a tool to foster the relationship between audiences and their shows — all while dropping Easter eggs and insider tidbits, executives told TheWrap.
In some cases, the podcasts themselves become hits, drafting off of the strength of the core program.
“Tell Me Lies: Official Podcast” was Hulu and Disney’s biggest podcast to date with clips garnering over 50 million views across social platforms. The drama series found a cult following on TikTok as fans gave their takes on the leads’ toxic relationship and the podcast, hosted by Stassi Schroder, only added to the hype from the series’ already engaged fandom.
Peacock found success with its reality competition series “The Traitors” Season 4, growing 66% in viewership over last season. In tandem with the growing fanbase, its official companion podcast, hosted by Season 3 alums Bob the Drag Queen and Boston Rob, ranked No. 1 among all television companion podcasts available through first 25 days and launched as the No. 1 podcast in the After Show genre on Apple Podcasts.
“We’re creating companion podcasts for Peacock’s most ‘talkable’ shows, and what’s more talkable than authentic, behind-the-scenes access?” Peacock’s EVP of Programming Brian Henderson told TheWrap. “Fans love the inside storylines they can really sink their teeth into, and we’re giving them IYKYK moments they can chew on and debate until the next week’s episode drops. We’re building intrigue and anticipation.”
“The Traitors: Official Podcast” co-host Boston Rob told TheWrap that hosting an aftershow associated with the streamer gave it the legitimacy he needed to participate. His co-host Bob the Drag Queen, an avid podcaster for almost a decade, told TheWrap it elevated the experience.
“This is my second time doing an official state-sanctioned review show podcast, and it does make a difference,” he said. “First of all, it has the backing from the studio, so you’re going to get [contestants] sent over there, but also you have insiders.”
Henderson noted that while the podcasts have marketing value for the streamer they do not see them as “purely promotional” content. The executive said that the content serves as entertainment value on its own merit. He specifically called the slew of aftershows a “strategic investment in making our audience feel as valued as possible.”
For HBO, the value comes in giving their fans bonus content. Specifically for shows like “Game of Thrones” or “The Last of Us,” the podcast gives the streamer an opportunity to show off the prep work that went into an episode or highlight below-the-line talent to give fans more. And for something like Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen,” the HBO companion podcast was an opportunity to offer historical context for the show’s chronicle of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
The streamers did not clarify whether the podcasts were profitable – several do not run ads in the way that independent podcasts do to monetize content – but they noted that the potential business opportunity is not lost on them. The United States accounted for approximately 67% of the global podcast revenue total in 2024, with $1.4 billion in video podcast revenue, according to a study from Owl & Co.
“We’re also experimenting with different strategies, ensuring that we’re executing on the business case for podcasts, and identifying revenue opportunities when they arise,” Michael Gluckstadt, senior director of podcasts at HBO, told TheWrap.
Feeding the fans
All of this represents a concerted effort by the streamers to cater to the fans, which isn’t a group they’ve always been mindful of.
Henry Jenkins, media and pop culture scholar and podcast host in his own right, told TheWrap that it signals that the tides have shifted in the network’s take on fan culture, which have had complicated relationships with the shows they claim to love in the past.
“Fans were seen as a nuisance, now they’re seen as economic assets,” he told TheWrap. “The more you feed fans, the more they can work as evangelists for the show, the more they can engage with other publics and bring them in.”
Avid viewers already spout theories about upcoming episodes online on Reddit, in TikTok comment sections and on Instagram stories — now they have network-produced content to deepen those conversations.
For a show like “Tell Me Lies,” which aired its season finale last week, the podcast became part of the weekly conversation around the show because fans craved deeper analysis of the wild and juicy storylines.
“The Traitors” podcast’s ability to give fans exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes moments has fueled analysis of the game. Learning more about what happens off-screen makes them more invested in what’s happening on-screen the following week.
These podcasts are most effective when talking up the big, splashy moments of an episode, but what happens when they need to be critical or address a controversial topic?
The limits of the official aftershow
While the networks producing their own aftershows give fans more exclusive access, there is a tradeoff. These authorized podcasts often avoid candid critiques of the shows they’re commenting, or weighing in on controversial topics beyond the company line.
Cesternino addressed “Survivor”’s sexual harassment controversy on his independent podcast during “Survivor: Island of the Idols” in November 2019. On his show “Rob Has a Podcast,” he and others discussed the situation surrounding contestant Dan Spilo’s inappropriate touching and the show’s handling of the incident. The host brought on guests, including a contributing editor and a psychologist, to unpack both the allegations and their broader implications for the show and its portrayal of sexual misconduct.
A show owned and operated by the network itself may be more wary to dive into these waters.
“These things do have an educational function, both in terms of giving you insight into the creators of the show and sometimes the stars, but also the subject matter domain of the show, which is the part I enjoy the most on many of these podcasts,” Jenkins said. “But they’re hemmed in by the legal departments of the networks and any number of ways, and they’re essentially an extension of the Public Relations for the show. They’re not journalism. There’s no investigatory function there.”
A representative for NBCUniversal said it approaches podcasts the same way it does any other creative content on its platforms, giving notes on final cuts of episodes but also allowing for creative freedom. The network noted that hosts are not scripted or boxed in by talking points, adding that the host’s authenticity elevates the listening experience.
Likewise, a representative for HBO said while they must abide by some legal requirements, they don’t steer hosts away from “sensitive topics.”
Hulu declined to comment on the extent to which networks control the discussion had on their platform’s podcasts.
Are companion podcasts here for the long haul?
As companion podcasts proliferate across platforms, the question isn’t just how many will exist, but which shows can actually sustain them. According to Jenkins, growth won’t be evenly distributed.
“They’re going to grow around any show that fills a specific niche and has a strong fan following,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins added that a broadly popular comedy like “Abbott Elementary” may be less likely to spawn the same kind of companion ecosystem as a smaller but more obsessive series.
When asked whether the companion podcast format was here to stay, HBO’s podcast leader was unequivocal.
“Absolutely,” Gluckstadt said. “The formats might be changing — you could draw a direct line from old DVD commentary tracks to recap blogs to the video podcasts we’re doing now — but there has always been a consistent desire for audiences to engage more deeply with the content that resonates with them.”
Notably, the rise of official companion podcasts hasn’t triggered a backlash from the independent creators who helped build the ecosystem in the first place. Veteran podcaster Cesternino sees streamer-backed shows less as competition and more as fuel.
“I don’t view those as competition to what I do,” he said. “We get so much more additional material to talk about from the actual podcasts that the networks produce. I love that networks promote their official podcasts — it gets more people into the podcast space.
As long as audiences continue searching for places to obsess over the content, companion podcasts appear less fleeting and more like a new pillar of TV fandom.
