Earwolf finally cracked Pardo. Jimmy Pardo’s Never Not Funny has been around since 2006, long before podcasts were considered viable promotion vehicles or advertising hubs. The show used to provide 20 minutes gratis, and you had to pony up for the rest. Pardo expressed misgivings about the pay wall when I talked to him in October:
“Does it restrict our listenership, yes, very much so,” Pardo said. “We put up the pay wall two years in, before the first comedy podcast boom happened. We’re staying very consistent as far as subscribers are concerned. But because of the pay wall we don’t grow at all. But I am very happy we made the decision to do what we’re doing.”
But those worries are over it seems. All future episodes of Never Not Funny will be available for no charge starting Jan. 30. Pardo will be joined by Kevin Pollack and Andy Daly, who both have shows debuting on Earwolf this year.
