Nick Viall: How I Spun 'Bachelor' Into a $30M Podcast Empire
The reality TV alum and rising media mogul reveals the key decisions that drove an 8-figure outcome
I cover the creator economy at Like & Subscribe, a standalone newsletter that’s being sampled for a limited time for paid subscribers to The Ankler. Recently I broke down the nuts and bolts of how and where to make money as a creator today, reported on jobs available in creator content for Hollywood talent, and looked at the growth of Webtoon. Email me tips, memes and ideas at natalie@theankler.com
Last week I joined my colleagues on The Ankler podcast to dissect the state of dealmaking in Hollywood, and we found ourselves talking about how podcasting is seemingly the only medium where you can still ink a big deal — and brag about it in the trades.
Last year alone, Joe Rogan, Alex Cooper, Mel Robbins, Dax Shepard, New Heights’ Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce and SmartLess’ Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes all inked new multi-year deals as the U.S. podcast industry paces toward $2.6 billion in advertising revenue by 2026.
While announcements have slowed considerably in the first four months of this year because most pod A-listers have already locked down new deals, I’d point you to one particular pact as a sign of the industry’s ongoing robust health. Just last month, The Viall Files host Nick Viall signed a four-ish year ad sales, distribution and hosting agreement with Libsyn worth $30 million in what I’m told was a competitive situation.
When I talk to people in the podcast industry, Viall’s name is not usually among those rattled off among the juggernauts. And sure, $30 million is a mere eight figures whereas some of the names above have commanded nine, but the deal is a vote of confidence in the Bachelor alum as he parlays his popular pod (it’s been downloaded more than 250 million times) into a mini-empire of pop culture and relationship podcasts. Under his Envy Media banner, Viall employs around a dozen people and produces two additional shows from stars of the Bravo reality TV universe (Vanderpump Rules’ Katie Maloney and Dayna Kathan and Real Housewives’ Crystal Kung Minkoff and Cynthia Bailey).
“We can apply our playbook of what’s made The Viall Files successful to the other shows we want to produce,” Viall tells me. Read on for a full look at how he pivoted from reality star to podcast mogul, how he built his own “value” along the way and how the deal got done.
Today I’ll tell you about:
How Viall’s romantic trials and reality TV ties helped drive his podcast’s success
The key decision he made early on about his ad strategy
What YouTube has to do with it, and how other creators can follow Viall’s launch playbook
His ambivalence about Bachelor fame, and how he’s trying to move beyond it (but not too far)
How his manager helped keep Viall from falling into a “really scary place that people can get trapped in” after reality TV fame
Viall’s plans for Envy Media’s growth and what he’s doing differently from similar entertainment brands
How the newlywed pivoted from his own dating stories as pod fodder
How Libsyn became “a force multiplier” for Viall’s business
The competition for Viall’s most recent deal, and why it was about more than the dollar number