Podcast network Crooked Media has launched a new tiered subscription offering for fans of its shows via podcast subscription platform Supercast.
The subscription plan, named ‘Friends Of The Pod’, allows fans to subscribe across three monthly membership tiers - ‘Friends’ for $6.29 (£5), ‘Friends with Benefits’ for $8.99 (£7.23), or ‘Best Friends’ for $19.99 (£26.07). Fans can also choose to pay for yearly subscriptions at a discounted rate.
Bonus features within the lowest membership tier include exclusive access to a community page on Discord with posts like “News Crooked is Reading”, the opportunity to chat to Crooked hosts, crew, and fellow listeners within the subscriber-only chat groups, and access to weekly producer show notes.
Other bonus features available to subscribers across the more expensive tiers include exclusive weekly bonus episodes from the co-founders and co-hosts of Pod Save America, Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, early access to episodes, and a $20 one-time discount to the Crooked Media merch store.
“Crooked is launching our new community - great people, a ton of content and bonus episodes, takes too dumb and hot for PSA, more ways to be involved in Vote Save America - check it out, it is good,” said Lovett in a tweet.
Around half of the subscription fee for the Best Friends tier will be given as a $10 monthly donation to Crooked Media’s political community platform Vote Save America, and members will also get access to a quarterly VSA political review with information on how donations are being used. Only US citizens that are eligible to vote in the country can subscribe to this tier.
Crooked Media has recently won a number of awards at this year’s 27th-annual Webby Awards across a number of categories, including Best Featured Guests for Pod Save America with its episode featuring Barack Obama talking about democracy, Best Live Podcast Recording for Lovett or Leave It, and Best Partnership and Collaboration for World Corrupt with Men in Blazers Media Network.
The network also recently expanded internationally with its launch of political podcast Pod Save The UK, hosted by comedian Nish Kumar and journalist Coco Khan. The podcast has received widespread praise and is currently ranked as the fourth most popular podcast in the UK according to Chartable.
It follows The Rest is Politics with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, a podcast that takes on a similar style to Pod Save America, with the personal links between the hosts and politics in the country. All co-hosts of Pod Save America were former aides to President Obama while Campbell was a spokesman for former PM Tony Blair and Stewart was an ex-secretary of state for International Development.
