Showtime's Subscriber Journey

A story about Brendan Schaub's journey with Showtime, from getting a network special early in his comedy career to eventually leaving to start his own network.

"I worked for Showtime for 6 years and built their entire podcast branch, which is crushing it now. At the end of 6 years, in December 2022, they offered me another 6-year contract. I was looking around and Showtime was great to me - I was getting a salary and they were reaping the benefits. It was good for both sides.

I thought 'I feel like I could do this on my own.' I am an entrepreneur and I could see what they built. I've helped them out a lot, they've helped me out a lot. I felt like I could invest in myself and do this on my own. So I turned down the contract and started Thick Boy Studios.

In hindsight, I didn't really know who to talk to. Nobody in my lane has done this where you leave a major network in podcasting and bring it over on your own. It's a different animal when you're not only talent but also running the business.

At Showtime, we started with 0 subscribers and then 6 years later had like 600,000. We were well known in the space and up for awards. When I left, I had to start from dead zero again. That's 6 years that you built for them that doesn't come with you - I don't own that Showtime page. We're at like 160-170,000 now a year in, which isn't bad, but it takes time to keep chipping away."