Announced jointly in the opening monologue to today’s episode of WTF with Marc Maron and an article in Fast Company, “podcast discovery and listening app” Howl aims to be, in Maron’s words, “Netflix for podcasting,” cementing Netflix’s status as the Uber of entertainment ventures—the game-changing gold standard that instantly communicates a product is new and ambitious.
Created by Midroll, an ad network that works with more than 200 podcasts, Howl will offer six months’ worth of back episodes for all podcasts on the Earwolf and Wolfpop sibling networks, which boast favorites from Comedy Bang! Bang! to Yo, Is This Racist?. That’s just the free version, though; the premium, at $4.99 a month, will host the full archives of those podcasts, plus WTF, Comedy Central specials, host commentaries, and exclusive photos.
The aim, according to Midroll CEO Adam Sachs, is to eventually host “more premium content [and] more original content,” including an initial slate of 11 shows exclusive to Howl. Many of these original series, such as a documentary about the Gathering of the Juggalos, will have limited runs, which Sachs describes as a major selling point to creators, who won’t need to commit to 50+ episodes.