The relationship advice podcast created by veteran host Allison Raskin alongside John Blakeslee is coming to an end after a 44-episode run. “Starter Marriage” began last year and focuses on “the couple “examining modern marriage from every angle” but has failed to be a financial success and will officially come to an end.
‘Starter Marriage’ Coming to an End for Financial Reasons
Raskin revealed on Substack that the podcast has never been a financial success in the year since it first began airing, making very little profit for everyone involved. The lack of audience and advertisers is the main reason why “Starter Marriage” is coming to an end after just 10 months and 44 episodes in total.
Raskin revealed, “Over the past ten months, the podcast has been a financial flop, making us less than two thousand dollars in almost a year of weekly episodes.”
“Starter Marriage is officially ending after 44 episodes. I will have to add it to my growing graveyard of failed dreams.”
According to Raskin, who previously hosted the podcast “Just Between Us” before transitioning to YouTube as a video series, the dating advice show is coming to an immediate end after last ditch efforts to save it fell flat.
However, she was full of praise for Studio 71, the production company behind “Starter Marriage.” She explained that the producers didn’t just abandon the project but tried desperately to get it to work and find a larger audience. “But Studio 71 didn’t do that. They dutifully gathered on a Zoom call and tried to strategize a Hail Mary to help get the show new advertisers,” Raskin said.
“None of us wanted to give up. We believed in the show. We were proud of what we were making. If we could just increase the audience by a few thousand listeners, we might be able to get one or two advertisers to bite.”
‘Starter Marriage’ Might Continue in New Form
Although “Starter Marriage” is coming to an end in podcast form, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is completely dead. On Instagram, Raskin explained that she is planning on moving the show to YouTube with a slightly different format.
Writing in the caption speaking about the cancellation on Instagram, Raskin said, “This week on my Substack share the disappointment of Starter Marriage coming to an end because couldn’t find enough listeners for advertisers to invest in the show.”
“It’s a major blow but it’s not my first experience with this kind of thing. What matters most is that don’t let this stop me from believing in myself and my work-so we will be pivoting to a YouTube version of the show in a few weeks.”
Her other YouTube series, “Just Between Us” made a similar move with shorter 10-minute video episodes posted to the site.
