Rooster Teeth Podcast
The Rooster Teeth Podcast, formerly known as the Drunk Tank,[1] is a weekly podcast produced by Rooster Teeth. It is hosted by Armando Torres, Griff Milton and Andrew Rosas and features various members of Rooster Teeth's staff each week. It is sometimes advertised as simply The RT Podcast. It was named Best Gaming Podcast by the Podcast Awards in 2012 and 2013.[2]
Rooster Teeth Podcast | |
---|---|
Presentation | |
Starring |
|
Genre | Comedy |
Format | Video and audio |
Directed by | Patrick Salazar |
Language | English |
Length | 90–105 minutes |
Production | |
Production | Rooster Teeth |
No. of episodes | 754 |
Publication | |
Original release | December 9, 2008 |
Related | |
Website | roosterteeth |
History
On December 9, 2008,[3] after temporarily reviving a feature on their website from their previous website, 'drunkgamers.com,' Rooster Teeth released their first audio podcast, The Drunk Tank, available for download through iTunes, Zune Marketplace, and their website.[4] It soon became one of the most popular features of the site, at one point becoming the #1 most downloaded podcast on iTunes, as well as a featured podcast in the iTunes Store. New episodes have regularly been released every Wednesday since April 10, 2009, with occasional special episodes or multiple releases in one week. In 2009 they began uploading podcast themed "let's play" style videos on Rooster Teeth's YouTube channel. They later moved these videos to their own Let's Play channel in 2013. On June 23, 2010, the podcast changed to a .m4a "enhanced" format which allows listeners to use an interactive "link dump" to be able to view more information on the topics of the week's podcast.
On September 28, 2011, co-host and Rooster Teeth founder Gus Sorola announced The Drunk Tank was to be re-christened The Rooster Teeth Podcast to create a more unified public image for the company.[5] On August 18, 2010, the podcast was officially implemented into the Rooster Teeth website. To celebrate their 100th episode on February 9, 2011, they released their first-ever video podcast which featured Sorola, Geoff Ramsey and Burnie Burns with Griffon Ramsey as a guest.[6] On January 18, 2012, the podcast gained its first sponsor, Audible.com.[7]
Pizza Hut sold an official Rooster Teeth Podcast pizza in 2014 as part of a brand campaign with Fullscreen, which was nominated for a Streamy Award the following year.[8][9] In 2016 Pizza Hut sponsored multiple episodes of the podcast as part of a partnership with Rooster Teeth, which received multiple nominations at the 9th Annual Shorty Awards.[10]
A weekly series called Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures features short stories told from the podcast in the form of animation.[11] On September 26, 2016, Sorola unveiled the new set along with the new logo, replacing the one that had been in use since 2011.[12] A live ticketed event was held for the 500th episode.[13] In July 2020 the podcast was part of Spotify’s Vodcast launch lineup.[14]
A 2014 conversation on the podcast about a hypothetical scenario involving an immortal snail became the source of a recurring meme on social media.[15] Videos discussing the snail on TikTok had amassed over 230 million views by November 2021.[16]
Rooster Teeth founders Geoff Ramsey and Joel Heyman as well as Jack Pattillo have all previously served as main hosts of the podcast until individually stepping down, with Heyman having since left the company. Founder Burnie Burns was a regular host until September 2019, but briefly returned in 2020 before leaving the company that June.[17]
In May 2023, Sorola announced he would step down as the podcast's host in June, having worked on the show for 15 years since its inception.[18] In June 2023, the remaining main hosts Barbara Dunkelman and Gavin Free were also announced as leaving the podcast alongside Sorola with Armando Torres, Griff Milton and Andrew Rosas taking over as permanent hosts.[19]
Format
Since its inception, the podcast has usually featured three or four Rooster Teeth staff members as the main hosts as well as the occasional guests such as other Rooster Teeth employees, their families and friends or celebrity guests such as Zachary Levi.[20]
The podcast is largely a comedic commentary on the popular culture of the week, including video games, recent news, website features, sports, movies, and television shows. It is also used to announce the company’s upcoming projects, live events such as RTX, as well as occasionally highlighting fan-made projects.[21]
References
- Dominguez, Noah (2020-06-11). "Rooster Teeth Co-Founder Burnie Burns Departs Company". CBR. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- "Podcast Award Winners 2005-2014". PodCastAwards.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- Landry, Katelyn (July 5, 2019). "Rooster Teeth Pumps up the Volume With New Podcasts at RTX Austin". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
According to Sorola, the RT Podcast started back in 2008…
- Whittaker, Richard (May 11, 2018). "A Brief History of Rooster Teeth". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- "Rooster Teeth Podcast 133 Post". Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- "Big Thanks, Drunk Tank 100th Episode Blog Post". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- "Surprise Podcast!". Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
- Brouwer, Bree (2014-11-21). "Pizza Hut Partners With Fullscreen Creators To Develop New Menu Items". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
- Blake, Emily; Clark, Noelene (September 17, 2015). "Streamy Awards 2015: The full winners list". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
- "Pizza Hut & Rooster Teeth Live Events Program - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
- Rigney, Ryan (May 25, 2012). "How Rooster Teeth Won The Internet With Red vs. Blue". Wired. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- "Gusless - #395 - Rooster Teeth Podcast - S9E395 - Rooster Teeth".
- Andrew McMahon (2018-06-28). "Rooster Teeth Announces RT Podcast 500 Will Get a Live Event in Austin, TX". The Nerd Stash. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- Spangler, Todd (2020-07-21). "Spotify Debuts 'Vodcasts': Launches First Set of Video Podcasts". Variety. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- Schroeder, Audra (2021-10-22). "The 'immortal snail' finally makes it to TikTok". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
- Cavender, Elena (2021-11-06). "Remember the immortal snail meme? It's on TikTok now". Mashable. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
- Whittaker, Richard (June 11, 2020). "Burnie Burns Leaves Rooster Teeth". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- Rooster Teeth [@RoosterTeeth] (May 22, 2023). "It's the end of an era! After 15 years, @sorola is handing over the reins of the RT Podcast" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023 – via Twitter.
- Barbara Dunkelman [@bdunkelman] (June 6, 2023). "I cannot be more excited for the new iteration of the RT Podcast that @MandoDoesStuff, @the_indoorkid and @MrAndrewRosas will be bringing you guys ever week. We've been doing this show a LONG time, and we are all ready for this change" (Tweet). Retrieved June 6, 2023 – via Twitter.
- Weiss, Geoff (2017-01-18). "Rooster Teeth Unveils Slate Of 12 Talk Shows And Podcasts For 2017 (Exclusive)". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
A rotating cast of Rooster Teeth influencers and celebrity friends join Burns, Sorola and podcast regulars Gavin Free and Barbara Dunkelman on the living room-like set.
- Weiss, Geoff (2019-01-09). "Rooster Teeth Announces First Original IP Video Game, 'Vicious Circle'". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
Rooster Teeth founders Gus Sorola and Burnie Burns announced the new game yesterday on The Rooster Teeth Podcast…