American sports and pop culture website
The Ringer
is a sports and pop culture website and podcast network, founded by sportswriter
Bill Simmons
in 2016 and owned by
Spotify
since 2020.
[1]
[2]
[3]
History
[
edit
]
The Ringer
was launched in March 2016 by Bill Simmons, who brought along several editors who had previously worked with him on
Grantland
, an
ESPN
-owned blog he operated from 2011 to 2015.
[2]
At launch, the Ringer had a staff of 43 and focused primarily on sports and pop culture as content areas, with a few writers also working on technology and politics.
[2]
HBO
, the network on which Simmons hosted his weekly television program
Any Given Wednesday
one season in 2016, was an initial investor in the website.
[2]
The website was previously published on the
Medium
platform.
[4]
In May 2017, The Ringer entered into an advertising and technology partnership with
Vox Media
(owner of
SB Nation
), under which Vox would handle advertising sales, and give the site access to its in-house publishing platform.
[5]
Former Grantland writers who have since written for or worked for
The Ringer
include
Mark Titus
,
Shea Serrano
, Ben Lindbergh, Robert Mays,
Andy Greenwald
, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan,
Mallory Rubin
,
Juliet Litman
, Craig Gaines, Bryan Curtis, David Shoemaker, Ryan O'Hanlon, Danny Chau, Jason Concepcion, Riley McAtee, Joe Fuentes, and Tate Frazier.
[6]
In May 2018,
The Ringer
published a story by
Ben Detrick
about
Bryan Colangelo
,
[7]
then the GM of the
Philadelphia 76ers
, and his apparent use of various
Twitter
accounts to criticize players and defend himself. This led to Colangelo's resignation on June 7, 2018.
[8]
In August 2019,
The Ringer
'
s editorial staff voted to unionize with the
Writers Guild of America, East
. The union was voluntarily recognized by the Ringer's management four days later.
[9]
On February 5, 2020, subscription music streaming service
Spotify
announced it was acquiring
The Ringer
for an estimated $195 million and an additional $50 million in performance-driven incentives.
[10]
Spotify chief content officer Dawn Ostroff stated that Simmons was "one of the brightest minds in the game and he has successfully innovated as a writer and content creator across mediums and platforms."
[3]
[11]
Content
[
edit
]
Like the content on the website, the Ringer
'
s podcast network covers both sports and pop culture.
[12]
The flagship podcast,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
, is an interview show hosted by Simmons, featuring other Ringer writers and podcast hosts as well as athletes, filmmakers, comedians, and pop culture figures. Popular podcast hosts include former
Daily Show
correspondent
Larry Wilmore
(host of
Black on the Air
) and
James Beard Award
-winning chef
David Chang
(
The Dave Chang Show
).
[12]
Former podcasts include
Keepin' it 1600
, a politics podcast featuring former Obama speechwriters
Jon Favreau
,
Dan Pfeiffer
, and others. After leaving the Ringer, the hosts of
Keepin' it 1600
created a new podcast called
Pod Save America
as part of their own new media company,
Crooked Media
.
[13]
In 2017, The Ringer began the video podcast series
Talk the Thrones
, an
aftershow
for
Game of Thrones
hosted by
Ringer
staff writers and
live-streamed
on Twitter.
[14]
Talk the Thrones
is a continuation of
After the Thrones
, which aired on HBO.
[15]
The Ringer premiered
Binge Mode
in 2017, a podcast that has recapped every episode of
Game of Thrones
and every book in the
Harry Potter
series.
[16]
As of April 30, 2018, The Ringer
'
s world-wide Alexa ranking is 2,077 with over 15 million views per month. Of those, 6,150,000 are unique visitors.
[17]
Podcasts
[
edit
]
The list of podcasts offered as of May 13, 2023.
[18]
The Ringer
podcast network features a slate of more than 30 podcasts. Since being acquired by Spotify in February 2020,
The Ringer
has continued to publish its podcasts across platforms while promoting additional shows that are exclusive to Spotify.
Active
- The Bill Simmons Podcast
- The Ryen Russillo Podcast
- The Rewatchables
- Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay
- The Ringer NBA Show
- The Ringer-Verse
- The Ringer NFL Show
- The Ringer Fantasy Football Show
- The Prestige TV Podcast
- The Big Picture
- The Watch with Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald
- Plain English with Derek Thompson
- The Town with Matthew Belloni
- 60 Songs That Explain the '90s (resuming May 17, 2023)
- The Mismatch
- The Full Go with Jason Goff
- New York, New York with John Jastremski
- Philly Special
- Trial By Content
- Jam Session
- Bachelor Party
- The Press Box
- The Ringer Gambling Show
- Every Single Album: Taylor Swift
- Ringer Food
- The Ringer Reality TV Podcast
- Wrighty's House
- The Dave Chang Show
- Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air
- Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg
- The Bakari Sellers Podcast
- The Ringer MMA Show
- The Ringer Wrestling Show
- Fairway Rollin'
- The Masked Man Show
- Sports Cards Nonsense
- Sound Only
- Stadio
- The Rugby Pod
- Recipe Club
- Death, Taxes, and Bananas
On Hiatus
- The Ringer Music Show (on hiatus as of December 20, 2022)
Limited Series
- Book of Basketball 2.0 (ended April 8, 2022)
- Icons Club: The Evolution of the NBA Superstar (ended June 29, 2022)
- 22 Goals (ended December 14, 2022)
- Just Like Us: The Tabloids That Changed America (ended March 28, 2022)
- Flying Coach (ended January 26, 2022)
- The Book of Wrestling (ended November 9, 2022)
- The Cam Chronicles (ended July 13, 2020)
- What If? The Len Bias Story (ended July 14, 2021)
- Boom/Bust: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia (ended July 1, 2020)
- The Wire: Way Down in the Hole (ended December 21, 2020)
- Sonic Boom: How Seattle Lost Its Team (ended November 21, 2019)
Ended/No Longer on The Ringer
- 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt (ended January 26, 2022)
- No Skips With Jinx and Shea (ended March 24, 2022)
- Binge Mode
(ended March 5, 2021)
- This Blew Up (ended December 6, 2022)
- Black Girl Songbook (ended June 29, 2022)
- R2C2 (left the Ringer after May 26, 2022 episode)
- Mack Mania (ended November 15, 2022)
- Ringer Baseball (ended December 10, 2021)
- Gamblers (ended October 26, 2022)
- Gene and Roger (ended August 25, 2021)
- Tea Time (ended September 1, 2023)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"About The Ringer"
. The Ringer.
Archived
from the original on 2017-05-18
. Retrieved
2017-07-28
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Edgers, Geoff; Edgers, Geoff (2016-06-01).
"Bill Simmons's new site, The Ringer, goes live. And please, don't call it just another Grantland"
.
The Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-01-03
. Retrieved
2017-07-28
.
- ^
a
b
Robertson, Katie; Scheiber, Noam (2020-02-05).
"Spotify Is Buying The Ringer"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
.
Archived
from the original on 2020-02-05
. Retrieved
2020-02-05
.
- ^
Lichty, Edward (2016-02-23).
"Medium: Home of The Ringer"
.
Medium
.
Archived
from the original on 2016-02-23
. Retrieved
2016-02-23
.
- ^
Spangler, Todd (2017-05-30).
"Bill Simmons' The Ringer Inks Advertising, Tech Pact With Vox Media"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-05-30
. Retrieved
2017-07-28
.
- ^
Kalaf, Samer.
"Bill Simmons's New Site Has A Name And Some New Hires"
.
Deadspin
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-07-29
. Retrieved
2017-07-28
.
- ^
Detrick, Ben (May 29, 2018).
"The Curious Case of Bryan Colangelo and the Secret Twitter Account"
.
The Ringer
.
Archived
from the original on June 10, 2018
. Retrieved
June 9,
2018
.
- ^
"Bryan Colangelo resigns as president of 76ers"
.
ESPN.com
. June 7, 2018.
Archived
from the original on October 13, 2022
. Retrieved
October 13,
2022
.
- ^
Spangler, Todd.
"The Ringer Management Recognizes Union Representation by Writers Guild of America East"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-09-14
. Retrieved
2019-09-03
.
- ^
"Spotify to Pay as Much as $195M for Bill Simmons' The Ringer"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. 12 February 2020.
Archived
from the original on 2021-01-18
. Retrieved
2020-12-02
.
- ^
"Spotify is buying The Ringer to boost its sports podcast content"
.
TechCrunch
. 5 February 2020. Archived from
the original
on 2020-02-05
. Retrieved
2020-02-05
.
- ^
a
b
"The Ringer Podcast Network ? The Ringer"
. The Ringer. 2016-05-02.
Archived
from the original on 2017-05-13
. Retrieved
2017-07-28
.
- ^
"
'Keeping It 1600' Podcast's Obama Alums Launch New Show and 'Crooked Media' Company"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
.
Archived
from the original on 2018-06-18
. Retrieved
2018-04-28
.
- ^
"Facebook, Twitter and Apple get into the television business"
.
The Economist
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-08-25
. Retrieved
2017-08-25
.
- ^
"Game of Thrones aftershow 'Talk the Thrones' picked up by Twitter"
.
The Independent
. 2017-06-14.
Archived
from the original on 2022-06-18
. Retrieved
2018-04-28
.
- ^
Borelli, Renan (2019-01-30).
"The Hit Podcasters Breaking Down Harry Potter, Chapter by Chapter"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-04-16
. Retrieved
2019-04-17
.
- ^
"theringer.com info"
.
HypeStat
. 2018-04-30.
Archived
from the original on 2018-05-01
. Retrieved
2018-04-28
.
- ^
Hughes, Travis (2018-02-21).
"The Ringer Podcast Network"
.
The Ringer
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-08-15
. Retrieved
2021-08-20
.
External links
[
edit
]
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