Russ: Thirty-four million dollars. That's the rumored price for PodcastOne... and apparently, 'multiple people' are lining up to pay it.
Nadia: This is Nadia.
Russ: And I'm Russ.
Nadia: And you're listening to Feed Drop for Monday, November 9th, 2026.
Russ: Coming up on the show today...
Nadia: Podnews is reporting that PodcastOne is officially on the block, and it's already attracting multiple suitors.
Russ: We'll also get into why John Oliver is using podcast guest spots for prime mockery material on Last Week Tonight.
Nadia: And, in a twist, an international alliance is betting the next big thing in podcasting is... musical theater.
Nadia: So let's start with that PodcastOne news. The company confirmed it's 'exploring strategic alternatives,' which is just corporate-speak for 'we're for sale.'
Russ: Wait, wait. Multiple people are interested? Are we talking about the same PodcastOne? Who are these so-called buyers?
Nadia: They're not naming names, but the stock did jump over 20% on the news. Its parent company, LiveOne, is clearly testing the waters. The market cap is sitting around $34 million right now.
Russ: Thirty-four million. For a whole network, that feels like both a ton of money and... not nearly enough. Is the catalog—you know, Adam Carolla, LadyGang, Larsa Pippen—really worth that?
Nadia: It's less about the shows themselves, Russ, and more about the machinery. A buyer gets a whole podcasting division, turnkey: sales team, distribution, a huge back catalog for ad impressions.
Russ: So you're buying the pipes, not the water. You're not buying it because you love the shows, you're buying it because it's already plumbed into a bunch of houses.
Nadia: Exactly. For a company that wants to get into audio advertising fast, it's a massive shortcut. Way cheaper than building from the ground up.
Russ: I just can't shake the feeling the brand is... dated. It feels like the Myspace of podcast networks. No offense to Tom.
Nadia: [laughs] That's fair. But the ad dollars are real. And that's what a potential buyer from private equity or a big media company is going to see.
Russ: So, what does this mean for me, a listener? Is my feed about to break?
Nadia: For listeners, probably nothing changes right away. The shows will likely keep running. But for the creators on the network? They could get a new boss with very different ideas about the kind of shows they want.
Russ: Okay, next up: getting dunked on by John Oliver. My favorite spectator sport.
Nadia: Right. On his latest show, Oliver was roasting people who took a big 'L' in the midterms. He went after Elon Musk, whose favorite candidates flopped, and Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens.
Russ: A political bit on a TV show. So why is this a podcast story, Nadia?
Nadia: Because of how he did it. He wove in a deep-cut reference to Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans—the Theranos couple—and their disastrous podcast appearances.
Russ: Oh my god, the 'You Can See Everything' tour. When they went on that podcast to... what? Seem relatable? It was a textbook example of what not to do.
Nadia: Exactly. And Oliver using that as a punchline shows how central podcasting has become. It's now the place for disgraced public figures to try and rebrand themselves—and it's so well-known that HBO is making jokes about it.
Russ: It's the new notes-app apology. Go on some friendly podcast and pray nobody notices. But everyone notices. The internet always notices.
Nadia: And now network TV notices. It shows what happens in podcasting doesn't stay in podcasting anymore. It's part of the main news cycle.
Russ: So the lesson is... enjoy the schadenfreude? And if you're a public figure, maybe don't try to explain your massive corporate fraud on a podcast.
Nadia: That's a pretty solid takeaway. The media literacy around podcasting is getting better. You can't just expect a softball interview anymore.
Nadia: Alright, for our last story, we're going from political takedowns to... musical theater. As reported in Variety, Taiwan and South Korea are teaming up.
Russ: Okay... you have my attention. This feels like it's coming out of left field.
Nadia: Taiwan's creative agency, TAICCA, just signed a deal with the Korean Association of Musical Producers. The plan is to co-produce musicals and—this is the key—adapt them into other formats.
Russ: Don't tell me. Let me guess. They're making podcasts.
Nadia: You got it. The agreement specifically calls out creating 'audio dramas or podcasts' from these new stage shows, right alongside TV series and films. It's a multi-platform IP strategy from day one.
Russ: So you launch a hit musical in Seoul, and instead of just touring it, you immediately spin it off into a scripted podcast for a global audience? That is... actually really smart.
Nadia: It's brilliant. The 'Hallyu,' the Korean Wave, has already proven there's a huge global audience for South Korean culture. Audio is a relatively cheap way to reach them, compared to a movie or a world tour.
Russ: But is there really an audience for musical theater podcasts? That feels incredibly niche.
Nadia: The audience for high-production audio fiction is massive and it's still growing. Think about shows like 'The Leviathan Chronicles' or anything from QCODE. This is just taking that, adding music, and leaning into a proven cultural export.
Russ: So for us listeners, this means we could get some really interesting, high-budget audio dramas from a totally different source than the usual LA or New York studios.
Nadia: Exactly. More variety in our feeds, more global stories. It's a great sign that the audio world is getting bigger and more creative.
Nadia: Alright, let's do a quick recap.
Russ: PodcastOne has a 'for sale' sign out front, and we're waiting to see who's willing to write a $34 million check.
Nadia: John Oliver proved that cringey podcast interviews are now A-list comedy material, a new milestone for the medium.
Russ: And get ready for the next K-Pop musical to become your new favorite audio drama, thanks to a deal between Taiwan and South Korea.
Nadia: Before we go, Russ, what are you actually listening to this week?
Russ: You know, I just went back and re-listened to the whole 'Case 63' series with Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac. The writing is just so tight. It really holds up.
Nadia: An excellent choice. A modern classic of audio fiction.
Nadia: That's our show for today. You've been listening to Feed Drop.
Russ: We'll be back tomorrow with more from the world of podcasts. See you then.
This show is made with AI: the hosts’ voices are synthetic and the scripts are AI-assisted. Every story links to its original source.