In 2021, Courtney Holt, former head of studio and video at Spotify, tapped the company to produce a show about a man convicted of a triple murder in 1998. and Kim Kardashian, who has a history of being involved in criminal justice, will be the host.
“I was a fan of their work as a consumer,” Holt said of the Tenderfoot duo. “They were telling stories about dark subjects in a very interesting way that draws you in and takes you on a journey.”
Also in the same year, Tenderfoot launched a premium subscription membership through Apple Podcasts, Tenderfoot+. For $4.99/month, members get early access to all seasons of High Strange, ad-free podcast versions, bonus content, and more. Paid subscriptions, enabled by both Apple and Spotify in 2021, are a relatively small part of the industry, but they’re gaining traction alongside popular content monetization platforms such as Patreon and Substack. Tenderfoot+ is a key pillar of the company’s strategy to weather the downturn in the advertising market, and is among the top five Apple Podcasts subscriptions with 15,000 to 20,000 subscribers, along with Wondery, NBC’s Dateline and Sony Music’s The Binge. one of the channel.
“If the ad market is down, no one wants to release a project,” says Albright. “But if you’re building a direct relationship with your audience through subscriptions, you can publish content whenever you want and get your money back.”
With “High Strange,” the company has taken its biggest step away from the credible true crime space. The show, which cost over $500,000,radio rentalis a Tenderfoot podcast hosted by actor Rainn Wilson, featuring stories of bizarre and supernatural encounters told in the first person. A lifelong fan of “Unsolved Mysteries,” Lindsey launched the show with Wilson in 2019. In 2021, amid renewed interest in UFOs, after the Pentagon released a report that said extraterrestrial visits could not be ruled out, Lindsey decided to pursue an “Up and Vanished” investigative approach and a “Radio Rental” approach. A podcast idea that blends the weird tones of
“I wanted to do a podcast other than UFOUFO,” said Lindsey. “I don’t know what’s out there — no one knows — but people can hear the evidence and make their own decisions.”
