Audiochuck

Ashley Flowers’ Audiochuck Receives $40 Million Investment From TCG

~ jen

Audiochuck, the true crime and mystery media company founded by Ashley Flowers and home to the #2 overall podcast of 2024, announced today a $40 million minority investment from TCG (The Chernin Group). Audiochuck will leverage its first-ever outside capital to scale the company and fuel its next phase of growth.

Founded in 2017 by Ashley Flowers in Indianapolis, Audiochuck has established itself as a powerhouse in true crime and mystery storytelling and one of the largest podcasts networks in the industry. Crime Junkie, Audiochuck’s flagship podcast hosted by Flowers, launched the company into prominence and remains a dominant force, ranking as Apple Podcasts’ #1true crime podcast and #2 overall podcast of 2024 as well as Edison Research’s #2 podcast.

Audiochuck signed a 3-year (2022-2024) deal with SiriusXM, which SiriusXM renewed in 2024 for a fourth year (2025). Named Adweek’s Podcast Network of the Year in 2023, Audiochuck has steadily expanded its podcast portfolio to over 20 weekly and seasonal shows — including The Deck, Counter Clock, Park Predators, and Dark Downeast — making it SiriusXS’s largest network across all genres.

“From launching Crime Junkie to growing our amazing network of shows the incredible passion of our fans for gripping stories that make a difference has been at the heart of everything we do at Audiochuck,” said Ashley Flowers. “With this investment from TCG, we’re excited to amplify our storytelling, grow our team, and bring even more innovative projects to life during an exciting new phase of growth. All of this will allow us to have an even bigger impact on cases and social issues we champion. The future of both Audiochuck and podcasting more broadly is brighter than ever, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together.”

“Ashley and the remarkable Audiochuck team have built a world-class company and brand at the forefront of the future of media,” said Jesse Jacobs, Founding Partner at TCG. “The next great media businesses are being built with personalities at the core and being built with personalities at the core and by distributing content across podcasts, social, digital video and live events. Ashley and Audiochuck check all the boxes of what a successful media company will look like moving forward. And, we love that they do it all from Indianapolis. Audiochuck has the full support of TCG and we are honored to be their first and only outside investor.”

The TCG investment comes amid an optimistic outlook for the podcasting industry. The Interactive Advertising Bureau predicts a return to a double-digit revenue growth, projecting an increase of 12% for 2024, with expectations to reach nearly $2.6 billion by 2026. The number of true crime weekly listeners has reached 19 million, surpassing sports and news as the third largest category in podcasts.

With an audience median age of 34 (significantly lower than that of cable newspapers, and audio talk radio), podcasters are earning a more diverse and increasingly female set of listeners who are spending more time with podcasts. While 84% of the U.S. population 13+ consume some form of true crime content, women are almost twice as likely as men to regularly listen to true crime podcasts. The medium is also seeing a rise in momentum on the heels of its significant impact on the recent U.S. election cycle.

TCG is a multi-stage investment firm that invests in companies that define culture. TCG has a track record of successful investments in creator-driven media brands and emerging media platforms, including Barstool Sports (its first and only investor), Hello Sunshine (its first investor), Crunchyroll, Twitter, Night Media, Classic Football Shorts, Exploding Kittens, Epic Gardening, Vuori, and Oura Ring.

 

Audiochuck To Launch Exclusive SiriusXM Channel

~ jen

SiriusXM announced a new agreement with independent media and podcast company audiochuck and its founder Ashley Flowers to launch a new channel exclusively for SiriusXM subscribers. 

Expected early next year, the channel will be curated by Ashley and the team at audiochuck to present episodes from the deep archive of its flagship show Crime Junkie – one ofthe country’s top-ranked podcasts – along with selections from its other top rated shows, such as Anatomy of a Murder, The Deck, CounterClock, and Park Predators.

In addition, Ashley Flowers will host a new series for the channel featuring in-depth conversations with celebrities and special guests about how they became Crime Junkies.

“I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity of reaching entirely new audiences with our content through SiriusXM’s wide reach. There has never been a true crime channel in audio, and I’m thrilled SiriusXM chose us to create the first ever channel by and for Crime Junkies,” said Ashley Flowers, audiochuck’s Founder and Chief Creative Officer. “We have such a deep catalog of content to share, but I am most excited about the new original programming we will do specifically for SiriusXM subscribers. SiriusXM has been an incredible partner to us over the last two years and I’m looking forward to working with them in even more ways in the years to come.”

The new channel and show is an expansion of SiriusXM’s relationship with audiochuck, which started in 2021 with an agreement that gives SiriusXM exclusivity to ad sales rights for the network’s acclaimed and award-winning podcasts via SXM Media, the combined advertising sales group from Sirius XM Holdings Inc.

“Ashley and her team at audiochuck have become the leaders in the incredibly popular true crime podcast space through their passion for high-quality audio and a storytelling style that’s both compelling to the listener and respectful of the subject matter,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer. “With this new channel, and the combined marketing power of SiriusXM, audiochuck will be able to super serve their loyal listeners through an entirely new way to experience and interact with their shows, while further growing their fanbase by reaching audiences who may not yet be podcast consumers.”

This new audiochuck channel is SiriusXM’s latest endeavor to give popular podcasts a new platform, and SiriusXM subscribers exclusive access, having previously launched the Freakonomics Radio channel, which features programming from across the popular Freakonomics Radio Network catalog; as well as the Crooked Radio takeover last year, which brought Crooked Media’s Pod Save America and many of their other hit podcasts to Progress (channel 127) in the lead up to the midterm elections.

More details will be announced soon.

SiriusXM Signs Exclusive Multi-Year Agreement with Audiochuck

~ jen

SiriusXM announced an agreement with media and podcast company Audiochuck and its founder Ashley Flowers that gives SiriusXM exclusivity to ad sales for Crime Junkie – one of the country’s top-ranked podcasts – along with all the shows in the Audiochuck network, which includes top rated Anatomy of a Murder, CounterClock, and Park Predators. Audiochuck, the independent media and podcast production studio, has become the dominant network behind some of the most popular podcasts.

SXM Media has exclusive global ad sales rights for Audiochuck podcasts. Access for brands and marketers is only available through the advertising and sales arm of SiriusXM, Stitcher and Pandora.

The agreement calls for Stitcher, the Triton-ranked #1 podcast company and SiriusXM subsidiary, to distribute all Audiochuck content across all podcast platforms. Listeners can continue to listen and subscribe to Audiochuck podcasts on Stitcher, the SXM App, Pandora, and all major podcast listening platforms.

“I’m incredibly excited to work with SiriusXM,” said Ashley Flowers, Founder and CEO of Audiochuck. “Since day one our mission has been creating top-of-the-line content that drives advocacy and change and I believe working with such an established multi-platform company will allow us to do bigger, better things and reach even more people with the important stories we want to tell.”

As part of the new relationship, Audiochuck, SiriusXM, Pandora, and Stitcher plan to collaborate in the development of additional content accessible across multiple platforms.

“Ashley and the team at Audiochuck have shown that great passion and great storytelling together can create a meaningful business and platform for important stories that may not otherwise be told. We are committed to supporting them as they provide critical true crime storytelling that not only informs listeners, but also drives social change,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM. “For Ashley and other innovators in podcasting, SiriusXM provides a home to do the best work of their careers. With three audio platforms as marketing vehicles that can reach the largest and most diverse audiences possible, they can serve their most loyal fans and create new ones.”

“Joining with SiriusXM is an important next step for our long-term vision at Audiochuck,” said Kevin Mills, President of Audiochuck. “We intend to use our industry-leading content as a basis to innovate across platforms. We look forward to this collaboration to further our mission of offering new shows that reach even larger audiences, and elevating the advocacy for those who need a voice most.”