The McElroy Brothers Launch New Patreon Project
Justin and Griffin McElroy's podcast 'The Besties' now has a Patreon page in the hopes of making up for dwindling ads.
The McElroy brothers have relaunched one of their oldest podcasts on Patreon, and they're not being shy about why. The Besties is a video game discussion podcast hosted by Justin and Griffin McElroy as well as Chris Plante and Russ Frushtick, and it has endured for 12 years through several different platforms and format changes. Last week, they introduced the show's new Patreon page with an explanation, hoping that "after more than 10 years of chaos," they can "stop searching for the next safe harbor to keep the show alive."
The McElroy brothers are a podcasting dynasty thanks to shows like My Brother, My Brother and Me and The Adventure Zone, both of which are a part of the Maximum Fun network. The Besties' history is a bit more complicated. It was supported by Polygon when Justin, Griffin, Plante and Frushstick all worked there, then became a Spotify exclusive in 2019 supported by ads. Spotify chose not to renew that contract in 2020, leaving The Besties in the lurch. In their inaugural Patreon post last week, the hosts discussed how enthusiasm from fans has led them to try the crowd-funded route now that other avenues have dried up.
"We're well aware that some ads can be bothersome, but we were careful with our partners and their ads allowed the show to remain free for y'all, even though it made our margins pretty tight," they wrote. "Over the past year, those tight margins became untenable. You may have heard about the podcast ad market tanking... It's no one's fault, but it has had a considerable impact on the show's livelihood. We hope that Patreon will help fill in the blanks and, after more than 10 years of chaos, finally let us stop searching for the next safe harbor to keep the show alive. That we can focus our energy on making the show, rather than saving the show."
With all that said, the "main Besties episodes will remain completely free" and ad-supported, so fans are not required to subscribe and pay for the Patreon in order to hear the show. Instead, they will be incentivized to subscribe with perks including monthly bonus episodes and access to the back catalog of previous bonus episodes.
So far, commenters seem enthusiastic about this change and the chance to support their favorite show more directly. On the other hand, some wished that The Besties could simply join the Maximum Fun network where many fans are able to support the McElroys and the other creators they follow all in one place. All of the McElroy family podcasts are available via Spotify, Apply Podcasts and most major podcast apps.