Company Announcements

Zero Stars Is 47th Podcast Added to PodcastOne’s Network in 2024

PodcastOne All Time Network Downloads Tops 3 Billion

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PodcastOne, a leading podcast platform and a subsidiary of LiveOne (NASDAQ: LVO), announced today the October 21, 2024 premiere of Zero Stars, a debut comedy podcast hosted by renowned comedian, actor and award winning director Bobcat Goldthwait and Academy Award nominated producer Sean McKittrick (Get Out, Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, BlacKkKlansman). Each week, celebrated guests, along with Goldthwait and McKittrick, get the last laugh and the final word each week on Zero Stars, where artists critically critique their critics.

No strangers to criticism and reviews, Zero Stars hosts Goldthwait and Kittrick give their famous guests the opportunity to dissect mostly unfair critical reviews of their work. Actors, musicians, writers, artists, comedians, and even chefs have the chance to set the record straight when it comes to their most-panned productions. Upcoming guests include director Eli Roth, producer and chef Eddie Huang and actors Michael McKean and Tom Lennon.

“Film buffs, foodies and fans alike will hear exactly how reviews affect people—from the most glowing to the most scathing—on Zero Stars. Bobcat and Sean truly give an unparalleled perspective as they walk us through the reviews that can make or break a project and change a career trajectory,” said Kit Gray, President of PodcastOne.

Since first appearing on the David Letterman Show at the age of 20, Goldthwait has built a legacy career in entertainment as a writer, director, actor, and comedian. He has starred in some of the highest grossing films from “Scrooged” to the “Police Academy” franchise and became a well-respected award-winning director along the way. His works include World’s Greatest Dad, starring Robin Williams, God Bless America, Windy City Heat, and the documentaries Call Me Lucky and Joy Ride. His TV direction includes his series, Misfits and Monsters, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Community, Maron, and Those Who Can’t as well as comedy specials for Patton Oswalt, Marc Maron and Pete Davidson.

For nearly two decades, McKittrick has championed bold storytelling as a producer and through his QC (Quality Control) Entertainment, the producers behind two of the most talked about recent films, Get Out and BlacKkKlansman which both received Academy Awards. Over the course of his career, McKittrick has produced films which have garnered Academy Awards, Golden Globe nominations, BAFTA Awards, AFI Awards and a Grammy. McKittrick graduated from UCLA, and produced his first feature, Donnie Darko, at age 24. The film has gone on to become one of the most successful cult films ever.

Zero Stars and PodcastOne’s full roster of top ranked podcasts includes programming across top genres such as news, comedy, true crime and society and culture, including shows such as The Adam Carolla Show, When Reality Hits, LadyGang, Baby Mamas No Drama, Varnamtown, The Prosecutors, Court Junkie, The Jordan Harbinger Show, Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe, Camp Counselors, and The Schaub Show.

About PodcastOne
PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC) is a Los Angeles based podcast network founded in 2012 by Kit Gray and Norm Pattiz providing creators and advertisers with a full 360-degree solution in sales, marketing, public relations, production, and distribution delivering over 2.1 billion downloads per year with a community of 250 of the top podcasters, including Adam Carolla, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Jordan Harbinger, LadyGang, A&E's Cold Case Files and Varnamtown. PodcastOne has built a distribution network reaching over 1 billion listeners a month across all of its own properties, LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO), Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Samsung and over 150 shows exclusively available in Tesla vehicles. PodcastOne is also the parent company of LaunchpadOne, an innovative self-serve platform developed to launch, host, distribute and monetize independent user-generated podcasts. For more information, visit PodcastOne.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter at @podcastone. For more investor information, please visit ir.podcastone.com/overview/default.aspx.

About LiveOne
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO) is an award-winning, creator-first, music, entertainment, and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events. LiveOne's wholly-owned subsidiaries include Slacker Radio, PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC), PPVOne, CPS, LiveXLive, DayOne Music Publishing, Drumify and Splitmind. LiveOne is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Spotify, Samsung, Amazon Fire, Android TV, and through STIRR’s OTT applications. For more information, visit liveone.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter at @liveone. For more investor information, please visit ir.liveone.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are “forward-looking statements,” which may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as “may,” “might,” “will,” “will likely result,” “would,” “should,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “continue,” “target” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: LiveOne’s reliance on its largest OEM customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; LiveOne’s and PodcastOne’s ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, merger, distribution or transaction, the timing of the consummation of any such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to the consummation of any such event would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the consummation of any proposed financing, acquisition, merger, special dividend, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance shareholder value; PodcastOne’s ability to continue as a going concern; PodcastOne’s ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its listeners; PodcastOne identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; LiveOne’s intent to repurchase shares of its and/or PodcastOne’s common stock from time to time under LiveOne’s announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; LiveOne’s ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other covenants; PodcastOne successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; management’s relationships with industry stakeholders; uncertain and unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of PodcastOne, LiveOne and/or LiveOne’s other subsidiaries; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in PodcastOne’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on July 1, 2024, PodcastOne’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2024, filed with the SEC on August 13, 2024, and in PodcastOne’s other filings and submissions with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and PodcastOne disclaims any obligation to update these statements, except as may be required by law. PodcastOne intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Press Contacts:
For PodcastOne
310.246.4600
Susan@Guttmanpr.com

Investor Relations:
Jason Assad
678-570-6791
jwassad@podcastone.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c3cb7696-0550-44b4-b2ad-365015ade5bc