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The Magnolia empire is coming to podcasts.
Chip and Joanna Gaines — the couple behind HGTV’s Fixer Upper, Magnolia Table, Magnolia Network and a mini food, design and shopping empire in Waco, Texas — are launching a podcast network through their production company Blind Nil Media.
The podcast network, Blind Nil Audio, is being developed in partnership with The Roost Podcast Network, which is operated by Warner Bros. Discovery‘s Rooster Teeth division, based in Austin, Texas.
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“Chip and Joanna have a distinct vision for programming that will resonate with their community and welcome more listeners,” said AJ Feliciano, head of The Roost Podcast Network. “As a Texan myself, I appreciate their dedication to building a storytelling platform that will support the thriving podcast industry in the state. I am excited to see what we can create together.
Some of Blind Nil Audio’s initial slate of programs (it officially launches today) will include 50 Fires: A Conversation of Money and Meaning, hosted by Carl Richards, and the long-running podcast This Morning Walk, hosted by Libby DeLana and Alex Elle.
Programming “will feature inspiring and empowering content that will inform, entertain, and catalyze new ways of thinking to expand perspectives and bring people together,” per the company, whch says the tagline for Blind Nil Audio is “stories that elevate, voices to celebrate.”
“We believe in the power of storytelling and are excited to explore new formats with this platform,” said Chip and Joanna Gaines in a statement. “The Roost has done incredible things in podcasts and we’re thrilled to bring our teams together to see what new voices and stories there are to share with the world.”
The Gaineses have become a centerpiece of Warner Bros. Discovery’s unscripted content strategy. Not only do they have their own channel in Magnolia Network, but their programming was the first content from the Discovery library to migrate to HBO Max, owing to its upscale audience (now under the Max umbrella, a much larger slice of the old Discovery library has joined them).
WBD CEO David Zaslav personally flew to Waco to convince them to re-join the company after Fixer Upper ended its initial run and the Gaineses parted ways with HGTV.
A podcast network that fits into their larger media empire makes sense, particularly with WBD’s Rooster Teeth able to handle the ad sales and distribution part of the equation.
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