Leading podcast agency Listen is promoting Suzy Grant to Head of Visualised Podcasts as it doubles down on companion shows and original podcasts for TV.
Following the success of their premium video podcasts, including the first original podcast commissioned for linear TV, The Traitors: Uncloaked, the super-indie is in talks with broadcasters, streamers, and publishers to create podcast formats built for linear TV, VOD, SVOD, and social.
Grant has led Listen’s video podcast charge to date. In January 2024, Listen launched its first official companion podcast for The Traitors, exec’d by Grant. The Traitors: Uncloaked, hosted by comedian Ed Gamble, was shot for TV, with an extended cut available in audio only. This new take on the TV sister-show reached seven times more viewers than the slot average for BBC2 (2 million average per episode) and achieved 4.4 million consolidated viewers for the podcast’s live finale.
“No guys, a visualised podcast is not just a TV show. It’s an in vision format for your eyes that you can also hear with your ears” tweeted Ed Gamble earlier this year. “Nothing like a TV show actually.”
The news comes as Listen announce Suzy Grant is to be the executive producer on the second series of Olivia Attwood’s chart-topping visualised podcast. So Wrong It’s Right had over 3 million views/downloads across the first 15 episodes. The show (distributed across audio, YouTube and with daily short form clips), is a prime example of ambitious entertainment podcasting that blurs the line between podcasting and TV, with one in three of the show’s YouTube viewers choosing to watch the show on their TV, rather than mobile or desktop.
Since joining Listen in 2021, Grant has overseen the production of premium visualised formats, including The Official Doctor Who Podcast and Sky Cinema’s reality TV format, Cinema Dates, alongside much-loved titles Love Island: The Morning After (with Indiyah Polack and Sam Thompson), India Rakusen’s 28ish Days Later and Child, as well as Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders: Titting About.
Suzy Grant says “The growth and impact of visualised podcasts over the last 12 months has been exponential. The likes of Uncloaked and So Wrong It’s Right have crafted a space in our industry that meets audiences where they’re at, with high-quality shows. I’m thrilled to be taking on this role, where I’ll continue to push beyond the traditional boundaries of podcasting.”
Listen MD, Josh Adley says “Over the past 5 years, we have cultivated a reputation for leading the way on talent-led, entertainment podcasts, and this move not only recognises the immense job that Suzy has done, but also our ambition to go head-first after opportunities that break new ground.”
Listen are in development on a variety of original, talent-led video podcasts which will launch over the next six months alongside major global partners. They are also in pre-production on two hugely ambitious visualised podcasts for broadcasters and streamers in both the UK and USA.
Listen are the UK’s leading podcast production agency. Its clients include BBC, Netflix, Wondery, Sky Cinema, Spotify, Vodafone, BMW and many more. It has produced over 2,500 hours of audio over the past 12 months.
Pippa Considine
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