Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger ditches TV arm to focus on podcasts

Goalhanger, the podcast creator behind The Rest is History series, is closing its television production business to focus on audio content.

The media company has appointed a voluntary liquidator for Goalhanger Films, recent filings with Companies House show.

Founded in 2014 by football legend Gary Lineker and former ITV sports controller Tony Pastor, it has produced multiple sports documentaries over the last decade.

These include many BBC programs such as The Premier League Show, Rooney: The Man Behind the Goals, Hand of God: 30 Years On and Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health.

It is independent of Goalhanger Podcasts, which produces some of the UK’s most popular podcasts, including The Rest is Politics, both hosted by former cabinet minister Rory Stewart and former Downing Street press secretary Alastair Campbell.

Pastor told entertainment website Deadline: ‘We actually discontinued Films and created a bespoke company that focuses on podcasts.

“There was a period when we ran them together, but the growth of podcasts was so explosive and television is facing a challenge, that we’ve now done some housework.”

According to the latest Spotify rankings, Goalhanger produces four of the top ten most listened to podcasts in the UK.

Second on the list is The Rest is History, whose hosts Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland have written best-selling history books and each reportedly earn around £1 million a year from the series.

The Rest is Politics is in third place, the US edition of that podcast is in eighth place, and The Rest is Football, co-hosted by Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, is in tenth place.

Other programs produced by Goalhanger include the history-focused Empire, audio drama Sherlock & Co and the World War II-themed We Have Ways of Making You Talk, hosted by James Holland and comedian Al Murray.

Many of these podcasts operate on a revenue-sharing model, whereby Goalhanger and the hosts each earn a third of the profits they generate.

Aside from online broadcasts, they can earn significant sums by hosting shows for live audiences.

Holland and Sandbrook gave a concert in October at the Royal Albert Hall where they spoke about the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, accompanied by a full orchestra.

Also last month Campbell and Stewart presented a live episode of The Rest is Politics at London’s O2 Arena in front of around 15,000 people.