Podcasting Giant HowStuffWorks Announces Four New Shows, Expansion of Genres and Fresh Talent

NEW YORK, NY and ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - Sep 7, 2017) -  HowStuffWorks, the largest for-profit podcasting company in the world in terms of streams and downloads, today unveiled a slate of new shows, an expansion into additional genres and an infusion of creative talent. Delivered at the IAB Podcast Upfronts, this news underscores a series of achievements this past year, in which the entertainment company also experienced 125% revenue growth, amassed 375 million downloads and recently received an infusion of $15 million in capital, led by The Raine Group, to accelerate future growth.

Today's news only continues the company's recent momentum. Headquartered in Atlanta and with studios in Los Angeles, HowStuffWorks will add to its current roster of podcasts with the following shows, all set to launch this fall:

• ATLANTA MONSTER will re-examine the nearly 40-year-old mystery surrounding the Atlanta Child Murders, re-interviewing witnesses, speaking with experts and victims' families. Hosted by Atlanta filmmaker Payne Lindsey, who also hosts the breakthrough podcast, 'Up and Vanished,' and jointly produced with HowStuffWorks and Tenderfoot TV, ATLANTA MONSTER aims to tell the true story of one of the city's darkest secrets.
• Omnibus: Co-hosted by Ken Jennings, the winning-est Jeopardy! champion of all time, and John Roderick, frontman of the indie-rock band The Long Winters and legendary raconteur. Together, Ken and John will pick a couple of topics a week for a mind-blowing deep dive into obscure stories they fear might be lost to history.
• Movie Crush: Hosted by Stuff You Should Know's Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant, Movie Crush is a weekly interview show where we sit down with your favorite people to talk about their favorite movie. Sounds simple right? But it's about much more than that. Our taste in art and culture helps to define us -- your favorite movie says a lot about who you are. Movie Crush not only gets into the "what" but also the "why."
• The Daily Zeitgeist: Hosted by Cracked.com co-founder Jack O'Brien, this daily podcast will delve into each day's news cycle to help listeners find the signal in the noise. Starting in late September, Jack and a cadre of the smartest comedians on the planet (or so they think) will try to make sense of the news while making you laugh.

"The sky is the limit for the new HowStuffWorks right now," said Conal Byrne, president. "We've been producing high-quality podcasts for nearly a decade, and, as pioneers of the industry, we are committed to raising the bar. Our goal is to be the top destination for delighting podcast listeners with entertaining content and serve as the best home for creators. This expansion into new genres is just the beginning, and we're not planning to slow down anytime soon."

In addition to announcing the new shows, HowStuffWorks highlighted its significant growth in many areas including:

• 37 million downloads in July alone
• 6,000 podcasts overall in its podcast library
• 50% year-over-year growth in number of brand advertisers
• Average consumption of 11 hours per week of podcast listening (compared to 5 hours for the entire podcast industry)
• 1 billion podcast downloads since 2012 (with over 35% of these downloads coming in the last 12 months)

"With our recent infusion of capital from The Raine Group, HowStuffWorks is actively searching for new podcast talent and partnerships that will continue to fuel our growth and help us deliver even more amazing content to our listeners," said Jason Hoch, head of new initiatives.

Earlier this year, HowStuffWorks announced the launch of Part-Time Genius with hosts Will Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur, who also co-founded Mental Floss; the re-launch of Stuff Mom Never Told You with hosts Bridget Todd and Emilie Aries; season 2 of The Stuff of Life and the launch of FoodStuff with hosts Lauren Vogelbaum and Anney Reese.

HowStuffWorks' existing shows continue to flourish with flagship podcast Stuff You Should Know attaining the top spot in Apple Podcast in July and also consistently ranking as the #2 podcast in the country. Hosted by Charles W. (Chuck) Bryant and Josh Clark, Stuff You Should Know is approaching its 1,000th episode this fall. Hosted by Tracy Wilson and Holly Frey, Stuff You Missed in History Class also routinely lands as one of the top 20 podcasts in the country.

About HowStuffWorks
Founded in 1998, HowStuffWorks is the leading for-profit publisher of entertaining and informative podcast content. The parent company of 17 leading brands including Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed in History Class and Stuff Mom Never Told You, the HowStuffWorks team reaches a highly engaged fan base across multiple platforms and distribution partners and has amassed a library of more than 6,000 podcasts and 1 billion downloads. With this expansive and award winning collection of audio podcasts, HowStuffWorks is ranked #2 in global downloads and streams. The company is headquartered in Atlanta and also operates studios out of Los Angeles. For more information, visit http://www.howstuffworks.com.