Yahoo News ‘Strike Force Five’ Premiere Tops Podcast Charts, Keeps Talk Show Hosts Busy During Labor Strife
Move over, Justice League and The Avengers. There’s a new group of superheroes in town, and they’re already making a splash.
Five late-night hosts — Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver — have teamed with Spotify for Strike Force Five, a new, limited series podcast. The show launched August 30 on Spotify and other platforms.
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The limited series will run for at least twelve episodes, with all hosts participating in each episode while rotating who leads the conversation.
So far, it’s doing well. The first show was the No. 1 podcast on U.S. Spotify charts, topped the news podcast charts on Spotify for the U.S. and UK, was the leader on the Apple Podcast Charts in the U.S., and also topped that service’s news podcast charts in the U.S.
Like all superheroes, there’s a unique origin story. When the WGA strike started in May, the group of suddenly unemployed talk show hosts gathered via Zoom. Their idea was to meet every week to discuss the work stoppage. But the conversations expanded, hilarity ensued, and the Strike Force Five was born.
All proceeds received by the hosts will go to out-of-work staff from the hosts’ respective shows.
The podcast is hosted on Spotify’s Megaphone with Spotify as the exclusive sales partner. The next episode airs Sunday, Sept. 3, with the show feed available here.
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