Fill 1
Fill 1
September 01, 2015
In The Mix

What’s the Buzz?

The success of after-shows boost AfterBuzz TV into worldwide phenom.

Paula Hendrickson

About five years ago Maria Menounos’s longtime boyfriend and business partner, Keven Undergaro, suggested developing a podcast about their favorite TV shows — partly because he likes podcasts and partly to give the busy couple an excuse to spend more time together.

“It was our version of a poker night,” Menounos says. “We’d watch our favorite show and talk about it. Other people wanted to join in, and it became the beast that it is today.”

That beast, AfterBuzzTV, now bills itself as the world’s largest online broadcast network, with roughly 400 different after-shows, varying by the season.

Menounos credits co-founder Undergaro and executive producer Phil Svitek with turning those first podcasts into a digital empire, AfterBuzz Media Group, which owns a growing number of online broadcast networks. AfterBuzzTV alone averages 20 million weekly downloads from 150 countries.

“We’re excited to take it to the next level,”Menounos says, noting the company has already outgrown its studio space.

Not only is a five-studio, state-of-the-art facility under construction, AfterBuzz Media Group recently hired former Frederick’s of Hollywood CEO Thomas Lynch as its new chief executive. Menounos and Undergaro hold seminars and one-on-one mentoring sessions for AfterBuzz hosts, which number about 250.

“We have the best team,” Menounos says. “We have great people who are enthusiastic and motivated and have passions and dreams. I give them all the credit, because they’re the spirit of AfterBuzz.”

Along with her work with AfterBuzz Media Group, the former Access Hollywood and Extra host has been juggling multiple gigs, from guest appearances on shows like The Mindy Project and Louie to starring in and producing the Oxygen reality series Chasing Maria Menounos. She’s also slated to join E! News.

The former Dancing with the Stars contestant has even turned a playful Instagram “dance war” with Derek and Julianne Hough into Dance Battle America, a TV special she and Julianne Hough are executive producing. It’s expected to air later this year on ABC.

Next up: the Every Girl Network, based on her best-selling EveryGirl’s Guide books. “I’ve been working on it for two years in beta form,” Menounos says, “but we hope to be launching it within the year.”

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