Partner Spotlight: Couch Soup

What creative mediums have fostered fandoms like television and movies? Film franchises like Star Wars and Marvel consistently bring fans into theaters in an otherwise bleak cinema landscape (for movie profits, that is). Television series from The Office to Game of Thrones have spawned spin-offs, podcasts, and merchandise. And the recent success of shows like The Last of Us and Fallout show audiences that video games have always had the same draw, the same potential for content and community.

Couch Soup was created for the love of the medium, for fans to gather and share speculations, opinions and musings on their favorite television shows, movies and games. We got to talk with Couch Soup about their community of remarkable writers in this month’s Partner Spotlight.

What drove you to create your website? Did you see a gap in the market for this type of website?

“We are fortunate to have an incredible community built from our time creating shows like the award-winning Con Man on SyFy and Retro Replay on YouTube. We quickly realized this community wanted to be more than passive viewers. They wanted to create content and showcase their knowledge and expertise on pop culture fandoms they love. We listened and decided to build a robust platform using our experience and gave that platform back to the community.

“Behold Couch Soup. A website owned and powered by its writers and creators. Authentic and unfiltered by any board or parent company that just wants to churn out content. Instead, we hope to give users a publication that exists not just as a name that occasionally pops up in your social media feeds, but as a daily destination.”

How has your audience impacted your experience as a site owner?

“I’m constantly blown away at the subject matter our writers are passionate about. They find truly unique points of view and oftentimes bring forth games and shows that other publications would overlook or miss. I think that has become one of our greatest strengths – to be the site you come to when you need to find something new and exciting to play, watch, or read that no one else is covering. After reading our articles, people find it hard to go and read other sites with similar content as they just don’t seem to have the same personality and verve as we do.”

What’s one of your favorite aspects of managing your website?

“Our meetings/Zoom calls with the writers and the community are my favorite part of every week. It’s like jumping on a call with a bunch of friends you grew up with. We talk about what we’re playing or watching and, through the jokes and laughter, we find some insights on what a great next article could be.

“Collaborations happen when everyone pitches in on an upcoming podcast or article. And every time we bring on a new writer or community member, they instantly feel like part of the family. It’s like they were always one of us. We’re like a bunch of nerdy misfits running a website with no parents in the room.”

What are you most proud of in regards to your website?

“It’s hard to pick just one thing to be most proud of. I really want to say it’s our recent viewership growth as people are starting to find us more and more and come back. That’s a special feeling for everyone working on this. It’s that growth that enables us to get cool early-release copies of games and TV screeners for our team to cover, which they totally love. I remember being blown away by HBO sending us a package of official merch from The Last of Us TV show. It was so cool that we turned around and gave it away to our community supporters on Circle, where we all chat.”

Do you have any advice for website owners who are just starting out?

“The best advice to anyone considering starting a publishing site like ours would be to stick with it for a while. Years, not months. It takes time for the gatekeepers like Google to give you the authority you need to be visible on a consistent basis. It also takes time to really hone in on what works and what doesn’t for your readers and lean into the content that works. It’s a cool moment when you see it all working together, and the analytics finally show the growth you deserve.”

For more information about all of the incredible partners we work with, check them out here. If you’re an existing partner who’d like to be featured in our Partner Spotlight, you can reach out to your Publisher Collective contact and express your interest. Want to get in on the action? Apply to become a partner here.