Meghan McCain is rebranding her newly launched podcast and folding it into her different streaming present.
McCain, the veteran media pundit and former “View” co-host, introduced earlier this month that she can be merging her twice-weekly “Happy Hour” present along with her “Citizen McCain” podcast and ditching the previous’s title.
“Our podcast is going to be our live show on 2way like we have been doing — just now with our original Citizen McCain name because quite frankly all of you like it and the brand is already on our TikTok, socials, etc,” McCain wrote on her Substack publication web page.
McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, launched “Happy Hour” earlier this 12 months after she was signed by 2way, a media startup based by Mark Halperin, the previous MSNBC character who was pressured out of his job as a consequence of allegations of sexual misconduct throughout his stint at ABC Information.
The present will proceed airing stay on YouTube Mondays and Wednesdays, however will transfer from 5 p.m. Jap Time to midday Jap Time. Episodes can even be obtainable on Apple and Spotify.
Whereas McCain assured her viewers that “NOTHING about the content is changing,” she acknowledged the present’s winding trajectory.
“This journey with Citizen McCain has been a rocky one with different partnerships,” she wrote, however added that she and co-host Miranda Wilkins are “very confident” of their partnership with 2way.
The brand new model of “Citizen McCain” premiered Could 5, with McCain stating throughout the broadcast that “Happy Hour is no more.”
The shift comes amid underwhelming viewership numbers for “Happy Hour,” which launched in February.
Its most up-to-date full episode earlier than the transition, which options an interview with Fox Information media critic Joe Concha, garnered simply over 4,300 views on YouTube.
By comparability, a two-minute clip from an earlier episode, headlined “Joe Biden’s Staff ‘All Hated Kamala Harris’,” is the channel’s most-watched McCain section, racking up almost 81,000 views since February.
Regardless of the reboot, viewership stays modest. Not one of the full-length episodes have surpassed 5,000 views on YouTube, and the “Citizen McCain” channel counts simply 2,650 subscribers as of Thursday.
Furthermore, new content material is being posted completely on the “Citizen McCain” YouTube web page — not on 2way’s foremost channel, which final featured McCain’s content material on April 30.
Halperin’s 2way community, promoted earlier this 12 months as a hub for bipartisan political discourse, has had its personal struggles gaining traction.
The channel averages about 83,000 day by day views on YouTube and has 78,400 subscribers, in line with Social Blade.
Since launching, 2way has launched over 2,200 movies, totaling roughly 22.8 million views.
McCain’s determination to work with Halperin drew consideration given her prior criticism of him following sexual misconduct allegations in 2017.
Halperin, who was accused by greater than a dozen girls, denied the allegations however misplaced outstanding roles at MSNBC and Showtime.
McCain advised the British publication Unbiased that her views had advanced.
“With age comes wisdom and different perspectives on people,” she stated.
“I am now a 40-year-old mother of two… Like Mark, at this point in my life I believe in giving people the presumption of grace and forgiveness as I would like it in return.”
Halperin has since reestablished a media presence, contributing to Newsmax and internet hosting a podcast on Megyn Kelly’s new media enterprise.
“We are thrilled that Meghan McCain is a part of 2way and has decided to bring her podcast and its audience into our network, strengthening our platform and expanding our offering,” 2way co-founder and CEO Arnold Jung stated in an announcement.
“In the short period since the launch of Meghan’s show we’ve received a great response and we’re confident the show will be a huge hit!”
Representatives for McCain didn’t reply to requests for remark.
