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Alex Cooper is one of the most successful podcasters in the world with her podcast “Call her Daddy”. Not only has she signed a $60 million exclusive contract with Spotify, but she has also founded her own podcast network. The American is currently in Paris, covering the Olympic Games in her own live streaming format. The American TV station NBC wants to use this to get a whole new target group excited about the Olympics. Because one thing is clear: Whatever Alex Cooper does, she is guaranteed the attention of her “Daddy Gang”.
Miley Cyrus has already been there, as have Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Aguilera, John Legend and many more – the list of A-list celebrities who have accepted Alexandra Cooper’s invitation to her podcast is long. Her format promises in-depth conversations that mostly focus on topics such as relationships, feelings, life plans or intimate matters, because that’s where it all started: Alex Cooper founded the podcast in 2018 together with her roommate Sofia Franklyn, the two of them lived together in New York at the time. And at the beginning it was all about one thing: sex.
Number 1 in the US podcast charts
With a mix of personal stories from the bedroom or dating life, practical advice and the involvement of its listeners, the podcast became so successful that just a month after its premiere it was picked up by Barstool Sports, an American blog for sports and pop culture. Within two months, the number of downloads is said to have shot through the roof: from 12,000 to 2 million. In 2021, Spotify struck and secured exclusive rights to Call Her Daddy for three years. The deal is said to be worth 60 million dollars, making it the largest amountthat Spotify has paid so far for a podcast with a female host. And Alex Cooper is far from satisfied: “I want to be the biggest podcast in the world,” she told the Wall Street Journal.
What do her fans love about her podcast? “Call Her Daddy is so successful because it is completely unfiltered and you can identify with it,” explains social media expert Christoph Kastenholz, Co-founder and CEO of Pulse Advertising. Alex and her then-co-host Sofia shared their uncensored secrets and built an incredible community of “Daddy Gang” members who empathized with their stories.
“Community created for everyone”
Over time, the range of topics has grown; Cooper no longer primarily focuses on her own stories and experiences, but instead conducts interviews with celebrities. She is known for so-called “tell all” conversations – anyone who goes to Alex Cooper is willing to open up and discuss very private things with her. Instead of just sex, dating and relationships, the topics now also include women’s rights, life plans and mental health, which is why doctors and therapists are often guests. “The concept has remained the same, however – she has created a community for everyone in which she can share her genuine and authentic stories unfiltered and without judgment,” says Kastenholz.
Spotify promotes “Call her Daddy” as the most popular podcast among women – In the US Spotify charts it stubbornly holds on to number 1. There is talk of millions of downloads per episode. Just like the topics in her podcast, Alex Cooper’s fan base has also grown over time – she is going from being a podcast star to a media star. The podcast’s Insta account is followed by 2.3 million accounts. Her personal account on Tiktok has 2 million followers, and 3.2 million on Instagram. According to the social analytics platform Influenced Her follower growth has also shot up since the beginning of this year.
Inspiring younger audiences for the Olympics
Her latest coup: her own streaming show during the Olympic Games called “Watch with Alex Cooper”. The 29-year-old is on site in Paris and is hosting interactive “watch parties” for selected competitions in order to appeal to a younger, more female audience. Viewers are to be involved via social media questions. The shows are broadcast on the paid streaming service Peacock, which belongs to NBC. Alex Cooper’s first appearance: the German women’s soccer match against the USA. The premiere suits her, because during the match the podcaster can also score points with her sports knowledge: she herself played soccer in Division I during her college days, the highest division in university sports. Alex Cooper’s watch parties cannot be seen in Germany, where Peacock is not (yet) available.
Christoph Kastenholz is not surprised that Alex Cooper was hired as host for the big TV event: “We’ve seen this before with Emma Chamberlain hosting the red carpet at the Met Gala and Amelia Dimoldenberg hosting the red carpet at the Oscars – both with great success,” he says. Such a deal has great advantages for both sides, Alex Cooper and NBC: “It draws the attention of younger audiences to a format that they would not otherwise primarily focus on, while also providing online opportunities with viral moments once the event is over, making both the host and the event more well-known.”
Olympia goes Love Island
Opinions about the format are divided online: “Avoiding mansplaining is especially difficult during the Olympics,” says the blog The Everygirl. And that’s where Alex Cooper comes in: She explains the history of women’s soccer in the USA in Taylor Swift style in Eras and the soccer tournament during the Olympics using “Love Island” analogies. Hearing Alex Cooper’s comments instead of the “typical pundit banter” was refreshing.
Other viewers, however, find it rather distracting when Cooper analyzed pictures of shirtless athletes with their guests during the competitions. The next watch party will be when the women compete against each other in artistic gymnastics. Then Alex Cooper will have to prove that she can provide both entertainment and knowledge in other sports besides football.
Your own podcast empire
Away from the Olympics, Alex Cooper has been building her own podcast empire for some time. In the summer of 2023, she founded “The Unwell Network” and is signing other top creators with successful podcasts, most notably Alix Earle (you can find her success story here) with Hot Mess with Alix Earle, looking for exciting books to market and developing reality shows. The Unwell Network is a subsidiary of Trending, the media company that Cooper founded with her husband Matt Kaplan of ACE Entertainment and with which the two want to reach Gen Z.
The Spotify exclusive deal is about to expire. Alex Cooper is said to be looking for a new distribution partner for her podcast. With her next deal, she hopes to earn $100 million, reports the Washington Post, citing insiders. An ambitious number – but Alex Cooper is probably the most exciting phenomenon in the podcast universe right now.
