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Audio Chuck LLC is facing a lawsuit from the creators of the “Anatomy of Murder” podcast, who accuse the Indianapolis-based media company of shorting them millions of dollars in advertising revenue and failing to do enough to promote the show.
“Anatomy of Murder,” which launched in 2020, is one of 20 podcasts in the company’s network, which includes shows produced by Audio Chuck—which does business and is widely known as Audiochuck—and shows produced by other creators.
The company’s original and best-known podcast is “Crime Junkie,” which Audiochuck founder Ashley Flowers launched in 2017.
“Anatomy of Murder” is produced by Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, who spent 21 years as a prosecutor at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office in New York City, and Scott Weinberger, who has worked as a law enforcement officer, television news reporter and media producer.
Nicolazzi’s company, Darien, Connecticut-based Forseti Media Inc.; and Weinberger’s company, New York City-based Weinberger Media Inc. filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. The case was filed under seal on Nov. 13, then refiled publicly last week.
The court docket does not yet include information as to who will represent Audiochuck.
“We vigorously refute the claims made by the plaintiffs in the filing. We will defend ourselves in court. Beyond that, we do not comment on ongoing legal disputes,” Audiochuck said in a written statement shared with IBJ.
The plaintiffs allege that in April 2020 they entered into a revenue-share agreement with Audiochuck in which Audiochuck agreed to distribute, promote, market and sell advertising for their podcast. In return, Audiochuck would pay the plaintiffs a certain percentage of the advertising revenue generated by their podcast.
Then, in 2021, Audiochuck entered into a multiyear deal with satellite radio company SiriusXM worth up to $100 million, according to Bloomberg reports.
In their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Audiochuck failed to pay them their “rightful share” of the advertising revenue deal with SiriusXM, “an amount equating to millions of dollars.”
As an example, the lawsuit alleges that the “Anatomy of Murder” share of ad revenue totaled $73,579 in December 2021, which was the last month before the SiriusXM deal went into effect. In January and February 2022, the podcast’s share of revenue dropped to $24,963 and $37,516, respectively, “despite that fact that downloads and impressions of the podcast remained relatively steady,” the lawsuit alleges.
When they asked Audiochuck for details on the SiriusXM deal and questioned why their payments had decreased, the plaintiffs allege, the defendant “attempted to avoid the issue” and provided the plaintiffs with additional payments, structured as advances that would be recouped from later SiriusXM payments.
The plaintiffs also allege that they renegotiated their contract with Audiochuck in October 2024, the month the original contract was to expire. The new deal, the plaintiffs allege, extended their original agreement through Dec. 31 of this year, increasing the percentage of their revenue share during those remaining 14 months. (The actual percentages in the original and renegotiated contracts have been redacted in court filings.)
The agreement also specified that Audiochuck would forgive the monetary advances and would own the intellectual property associated with the podcast and keep it after the agreement expired. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs say that the prospect of losing their rights to the podcast prompted them to file their suit.
The plaintiffs allege that, at the same time they were renegotiating their contract with Audiochuck, that Audiochuck was secretly renegotiating its own contract with satellite radio company SiriusXM. The terms of the new SiriusXM contract negated the revenue benefit that the plaintiffs had negotiated for in their own contract with Audiochuck, the complaint alleges.
As a result, the plaintiffs allege, they saw their monthly revenue decline again.
Additionally, the plaintiffs accuse Audiochuck of failing to promote and support “Anatomy of Murder” as it had originally agreed to—promotion that would have increased the podcast’s value, the lawsuit alleges.
Audiochuck did promote “Anatomy of Murder” when the podcast first launched in October 2020, landing it at the No. 1 spot on Apple Podcasts for a week, the lawsuit alleges. However, the lawsuit alleges, Audiochuck’s support for the podcast declined over time.
In 2022, “Anatomy of Murder” earned a people’s choice award in the crime and justice category of The Webby Awards, which honor online content. Also in 2022, Rolling Stone magazine named “Anatomy of Murder” of one of its 25 best true-crime podcasts of all time.
Apple Podcasts currently ranks “Anatomy of Murder” as 151st overall, and 25th among true crime podcasts. “Crime Junkie” is ranked No. 1 both in the true crime category and overall.
Last month, Audio Chuck announced it had entered into a multiyear deal with Tubi Media Group, a subsidiary of Fox Corp. The new deal, which a Wall Street Journal report valued at $150 million, will mark the end of Audio Chuck’s partnership with SiriusXM.
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