Why Michael Strahan’s SMAC Entertainment is getting into podcasting now

Michael Strahan, the star of Fox NFL Sunday and Good Morning America, is getting into podcasting as both a host and executive.

Strahan’s SMAC Entertainment this week announced a new podcast network called The Intersection, with Sinclair’s AMP Media as a production partner. The network is slated for launch by early fall, SMAC COO April Guidone told Awful Announcing this week.

The Intersection will feature two video shows at launch. In one, Strahan and business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini will interview “the world’s most celebrated icons.” In the other, Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens (a client of SMAC’s talent representation division) and comedian Chris Spencer will talk about the latest news in sports and pop culture.

Guidone said other shows are likely in 2027, spanning sports, culture, entertainment and music.

Previously, SMAC has helped develop podcasts such as Calm Down with Fox’s Erin Andrews, a SMAC client. With The Intersection, SMAC will oversee development and production while owning shows. Not all shows on the network will feature SMAC clients, Guidone said.

“SMAC has been developing content across different types of platforms for a really long time through SMAC Productions, and while a lot of our productions are sports, we do run the gamut across entertainment as a whole,” she said. “So we do see the podcast network as an extension of what we’ve been doing already.”

SMAC has produced numerous documentaries, reality series and digital shows. The company is also a coproducer on the forthcoming Madden biopic about the famed NFL coach and broadcaster.

Guidone said AMP appealed as a distribution partner because of its scale and “cross-platform” reach. AMP, which produces podcasts from sports media stars like Matt Leinart, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, and Candace Parker, is a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Some AMP podcasts air on Sinclair television affiliates. Advertisers are often attracted to placements that span multiple platforms.

At a time when many media companies, including several run by current and former athletes, are going to market with video podcasts, The Intersection ultimately must set itself apart.

Guidone said audiences will get a different version of Strahan on his show than they might be used to seeing on ABC or Fox.

“He is on television six days a week. He’s a journalist and an analyst,” she said. “You see little pieces of his personality come out. He is a fun and sometimes playful kind of guy, and I think that he has so many sides to him. He’s business, he’s a journalist, he’s a football player. But he’s also a real human being.”