VARIETY's "PLAYBACK WITH KRIS TAPLEY" movie podcast is now being produced in a joint venture with iHEARTMEDIA.
The show, a series of celebrity interviews by VARIETY Awards Editor KRIS TAPLEY, has been posting since AUGUST 2016 and has featured guests including SETH ROGEN, AMY ADAMS, EWAN MCGREGOR, JEFF BRIDGES, MEL GIBSON, JESSICA CHASTAIN, NATALIE PORTMAN, VIOLA DAVIS, KEVIN COSTNER, AVA DUVERNAY, BARRY JENKINS, JOHN CENA, SAM ELLIOTT, KUMAIL NANJIANA, BRYAN CRANSTON, SAM ROCKWELL, AARON SORKIN, GUILLERMO DEL TORO, GARY OLDMAN, and CHRISTOPHER NOLAN. The new arrangement starts TODAY (3/1) for a 40-episode season starting with a "best of" episode with clips from past shows.
"Aligning ourselves with the premiere media and entertainment company with the largest audience reach across digital and radio provides a tremendous opportunity for VARIETY," said VARIETY Group Publisher and CRO MICHELLE SOBRINO-STEARNS. "It is exciting for us to bring our esteemed journalists like KRIS TAPLEY to iHEARTMEDIA's mass consumer audience."
"We are excited to partner with VARIETY to bring this top film-focused podcast to the masses just in time for the Oscars," said iHEARTMEDIA SVP of Connections ADRIENNE PABST. "iHEARTMEDIA delivers more hours of live programming than any other media company. Our listeners rely on and trust us for the latest information from news and sports to music, entertainment and gossip, making us the perfect platform to relaunch PLAYBACK's engaging content to millions of listeners, many who are discovering podcasting for the first time."