Joe Rogan is facing a backlash from his podcast listeners after going back on a vow he made in the early years of his hugely popular show.
The UFC commentator started his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, in 2009 and has since gone on to produce over 2,000 episodes, with guests ranging from MMA fighters, comedians and writers to actors, scientists and politicians.
In 2020, the podcast was purchased by Spotify in a licensing deal worth an estimated $200 million.
Some of Rogan's most famous guests include Elon Musk, Mike Tyson and Donald Trump.
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The influence Rogan yields over his massive audience, some believe, even had a hand in ensuring Trump's re-election last November after the Republican party nominee was invited to appear on the show and then received an endorsement from the host.
And in early episodes of his hit show, the martial arts expert criticised other podcasters who insert ad reads in the middle of conversations, insisting he would not do the same as it disrupts the flow of a conversations.
But beginning this month, listeners have noticed that JRE episodes has included mid-stream adverts, plugging companies such as ARMA Colostrum, Bon Charge, Goal Zero, and Hexclad. These advertisements are unskippable, even for Spotify Premium subscribers.
And listeners have taken to Reddit to bemoan this new change, criticising Rogan for going back on his previous pledge to avoid mid-podcast ads.
"I get still having ads, but making them skippable was at least meeting paying subscribers half way," the original Reddit poster complained. "Now it's mid ep not skippable in the previous way. Pretty fucked, why pay for Spotify?"
Another commenter added: "Remember when Joe SPECIFICALLY said he would never put ads in the middle of the conversation because they interrupt the flow of the podcast and ruin the listening experience?
"I remember."
Those sentiments were echoed by another listener: "I remember when Joe would constantly talk about how stupid it was for other podcasters to do this as it interrupts the flow of the conversation for the listener…"
Ryan Baldi