Goalhanger has announced the launch of “Goalhanger X,” a new model for building full media ecosystems around individual creators, with “Always On with Marina Hyde” as its first venture. The show spans editorial, social, long-form and short-form video from launch, with additional formats to follow.

Hyde, a former Guardian columnist and recipient of the 2020 Edgar Wallace Award, will use “Always On” to extend her commentary beyond print into video, audio, and social content. On October 9, The Guardian published readers’ farewell letters acknowledging her departure after more than 25 years. The new venture launches free on Substack, with a paid subscriber tier offering exclusive content planned for later. Hyde will continue co-hosting “The Rest Is Entertainment” with Richard Osman alongside the new venture.

Goalhanger X is structured differently from a single-format deal. Rather than building a show or a podcast around a creator, the model is designed to grow around the creator’s existing audience relationship across publishing, social, audio, video, membership, live experiences and future intellectual property. Goalhanger provides the production, distribution, audience development and commercial infrastructure; the creator retains editorial control.

“Partnering with her to launch ‘Always On’ marks the start of something exciting for us as a business,” said Jack Davenport, co-founder of Goalhanger. “Goalhanger X is built around distinctive creators with a powerful voice, a loyal audience and the potential to build far beyond any single format or platform.”

For advertisers, Goalhanger said opportunities could include editorial and written sponsorships, original creator-led brand campaigns, social partnerships, bespoke audio and video formats, category partnerships, live experiences and membership benefits, with each partnership built around clear editorial boundaries.

The launch follows Goalhanger’s move to bring its advertising sales operation fully in-house starting January 2027, a shift the company tied to approaching a billion full-episode views and streams annually and to building closer, more integrated relationships between its commercial, production and talent teams. Goalhanger has also been building infrastructure to develop talent more broadly: in June, the company named six creators to the inaugural cohort of its “The Accelerator” program, a three-month business incubator offering production investment and access to Goalhanger’s editorial and commercial leadership.

Goalhanger’s network, which includes “The Rest Is History,” “The Rest Is Politics” and “The Rest Is Football,” generated more than 750 million full-episode views and streams in 2025 and is on track to exceed one billion in 2026. The company topped the 2026 Sunday Times 100 ranking of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies and secured a minority-stake investment from The Chernin Group earlier this year.

Photos: Courtesy of Goalhanger

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