Podcast mega deals continue.
Smartless, the podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, has been acquired by Amazon Music and Wondery.
It is the latest example of a podcast series being picked up by one of the major audio players in a multi-million-dollar deal.
It comes after Deadline revealed that the series signed with CAA, which shopped the deal, last month.
The trio launched the series last July and have produced nearly 50 episodes. Each episode, one of the hosts introduces a mystery guest to the other two. Guests have included Vice President Kamala Harris, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, Ricky Gervais, Bryan Cranston, Paul McCartney, Tina Fey, Awkwafina, W. Kamau Bell, Stacey Abrams, Billie Eilish and Megan Rapinoe.
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Starting August 1, new episodes will be released exclusively for a week on Amazon Music and Wondery+ with episodes available on all other platforms after seven days.
Watch on Deadline
This deal also includes an exclusive right to partner on any additional podcasts produced by the makers of SmartLess, and Wondery will retain exclusive ad-sales rights through the deal.
“Since its launch last year, SmartLess has brought us some of the most entertaining conversations from today’s top celebrities and public figures infused with much-needed laughter, and we’re thrilled to bring this show to Wondery,” said Jen Sargent, CEO of Wondery. “The hosts’ unique approach to authentic storytelling make it the perfect addition to our offering, and Wondery, along with Amazon Music, is honored to bring this show to new audiences.”
The logline of the show is one “that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity.” However, it’s essentially just a chat between the three friends and a guest, sometimes a pal, sometimes not.
“We wanted to talk,” said Bateman in a recent episode. “We don’t have any format, there’s no preamble,” added Arnett. “There’s no theme, there’s no goal. I’ve been winging it since 1970, why would I start now,” he joked.
The deal was brokered by UnJu Paik, Vishal Panchal, and Jenn Cron for Wondery with Josh Lindgren and Yuni Sher for CAA, and Sam Fischer and Jamey Cohen at Ziffren Brittenham, Tom Hoberman, Adam Kaller, and Ryan Pastorek at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, & Gellman, and Robert Offer and Shelby Weiser at Sloane, Offer, Weber, and Dern.
