iHeartMedia has opted to not renew its deal with Jay Shetty for his popular “On Purpose” health and wellness podcast, after three years as part of the iHeartPodcast Network.
The audio and podcast company’s current deal with Shetty will run through the end of June. iHeartMedia originally announced its deal with Shetty for “On Purpose” in April 2023.
Shetty, a bestselling author and entrepreneur, launched “On Purpose” in 2019 and he’s released more than 800 episodes to date. iHeartMedia shared the news that it was ending its deal with Shetty in a message to advertising partners from Jenna Craig, president of national media, and Adrienne Pabst, president of iHeartMeida’s strategic partners group.
“Because you’re a valued partner, we wanted to let you know that we’ve made the difficult decision not to renew our relationship with Jay Shetty,” the execs wrote in the email, whose authenticity was confirmed by Variety. “We love Jay — we have enormous respect for him and what we’ve accomplished together, including both doubling his audience and his revenue, but as sometimes happens with professional relationships, we’re going in different directions.”
The iHeartMedia executives added, “This is in no way a reflection on Jay or the quality of his content. Jay remains a personal and professional friend, and we wish him continued success… We will of course continue to remain supportive of Jay and his podcast throughout the term of our partnership.”
Reps for Shetty did not immediately provide comment on the change.
The news comes after Shetty last month announced the launch of his new production company, Perfect Strangers Media, which will produce film, TV and podcasts that tell “stories that show how connected we already are,” according to his company. Perfect Strangers Media has closed deals on two projects with Netflix: one a scripted series in development and the other one an unscripted series. (Perfect Strangers declined to provide details on the series.) In addition to those, the company is actively developing a slate of other TV series and films, as well as podcasts.
English (US) ·