Jay Shetty and iHeartMedia Part Ways on On Purpose After Three Years
Jay Shetty's distribution and sales deal with iHeartMedia for his On Purpose podcast will end when the current contract expires in early July 2026. The show launched in 2019 and has released more than 800 episodes; iHeartMedia says it doubled both Shetty's audience and his revenue during the three-year run that began in April 2023. iHeartMedia sought a four-year renewal but the two sides could not reach agreement on terms, and the company notified advertising partners of the split directly. Shetty's team is now in talks with other audio companies. Earlier this month, Shetty launched Perfect Strangers Media, a production company that has already closed deals on two projects with Netflix.
Why it matters
A podcast that doubled its audience and revenue during an exclusive network deal is still choosing to walk rather than renew, which tells you something about what the renewal terms looked like and how much the market for top-10 health and wellness audio has moved. Shetty enters his next negotiation with an 800-episode catalog, a documented revenue track record, Netflix relationships, and no network affiliation. That is a strong leverage position for bidding, and Spotify, SiriusXM, Audacy, and Amazon Podcasts will all be in conversations over the next few weeks. For talent reps with podcast clients in the top 100, this deal shows that exclusivity provisions need escalating rate clauses tied to audience growth, because a network that grows your show to double the size should be paying proportionally, not offering the same structure for four more years.
Get the full briefing weekly
Read by talent managers, agents, and brand partnership professionals every Friday.