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Regardless of the events of the Succession finale, the Roy family is coming out on top after all.
HBO’s Succession Podcast, hosted by journalist Kara Swisher, is Adweek’s 2023 Podcast of the Year, with the production also taking the award for Best TV/Streaming Podcast. And Swisher couldn’t be prouder of the HBO podcast team, Pineapple Street Studios and the whole experience.
“Every bit of it was enjoyable,” Swisher told Adweek. “I can’t think of a moment I was ever annoyed and not delighted.”
The podcast host and journalist, whose credits also include New York Magazine’s On with Kara Swisher and Pivot, said the show’s success came down to one simple fact: “HBO let us do what we wanted.”
“They didn’t meddle. They didn’t try to make it a PR thing. They didn’t try to make it marketing,” Swisher said. “They could have easily gone that way.”
Instead, Swisher was given free rein, approaching the podcast as both a journalist and fan of the show. And audiences responded.
The Succession podcast made frequent appearances on the Apple TV and Film podcast chart throughout Succession’s headline-making final season, all while making headlines of its own, as Swisher explored the real-life events that inspired the series, gave fans a deeper look at the making of the show and learned about alternate endings that wound up on the cutting-room floor.
“Kara brings her own thoughts, attitudes, interview style, connections, audience and so much more to the table,” said Michael Gluckstadt, senior director, HBO/Max podcasts. “I knew we hit on something when I’d get so invested listening to the conversation, I’d almost forget we were recording a podcast.”
In addition to Swisher’s charisma and interview style, Gluckstadt also gave credit to Warner Bros. Discovery for letting the team coordinate interviews with the cast and plug into marketing efforts. Succession creator Jesse Armstrong and executive producer Frank Rich helped navigate themes and discussion points along the way.
Success with fans
With years of experience writing about the real-life billionaires who inspired the characters on Succession, Swisher was able to explore the deeper truth behind what viewers watched each Sunday.
“I think that helped,” Swisher said. “I had a lot of knowledge of the people they were depicting, especially in the last season. There was a Mark Cuban-like character. There was clearly an Elon Musk character.”
