Critical Role Inks Exclusive Podcast Advertising, Distribution Deal With SiriusXM (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorCritical Role, the D&D role-playing collective with millions of fans, is teaming with SiriusXM to handle worldwide ad sales and distribution of its popular podcast.Under the multiyear deal, SXM Media, the combined advertising revenue organization of SiriusXM, has exclusive global ad-sales rights to the Critical Role podcast.

Additionally, the agreement calls for SiriusXM’s Stitcher podcast subsidiary to distribute the show across all podcast platforms.Critical Role was formed by a group of friends who met as voiceover actors in L.A.

and began playing D&D together, originally just for their own private amusement. CR’s founders and castmates — Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham and game master Matthew Mercer — started livestreaming their campaigns in 2015 and drew a large following of fans (aka “Critters”).

The company has since expanded the Critical Role franchise into podcasting, books, graphic novels, tabletop games, merchandise — and an adult animated TV series, “The Legend of Vox Machina,” on Amazon’s Prime Video.