Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, the Los Angeles–based, nationally distributed radio program and podcast with a focus on comedy and pop culture, is leaving longtime distributor PRI, host and creator Jesse Thorn announced on his website Dec. 19.
“I’ve decided that starting this spring, Bullseye will have a new distributor,” Thorn wrote in his announcement, promising that there would be no interruption in the program’s production or distribution. “This is a difficult step, but it is also a step forward.”
The program, which airs on 11 public radio stations as well as on SiriusXM, has been with PRI since 2007. It was previously known as The Sound of Young America and began life as a college-radio program before amassing a large online following through its podcast. Thorn also oversees an extensive podcast and blog network, Maximum Fun, which puts on its own convention for fans.
The show also appears to be on shaky ground financially. One day prior to the announcement, Thorn urged his Twitter followers to donate to the program, saying it was “in the red.”
Thanks for posting this, Andrew. The show’s not on shaky ground financially, though it does operate in the red. We subsidize the budget of Bullseye with income from the podcast network, our live events, and so forth. We decided to spend a lot more on the show when we reformatted this year, but we didn’t expect to recoup that right away. Our long-term goal’s for the show to get back in the black, but I’m totally comfortable spending money on it as necessary. We’ve got enough revenue from other stuff to cover the difference, and our first goal’s to make an awesome show. Nobody gets into public radio to make money :).