EXCLUSIVE: Goalhanger, the influential UK podcast company co-founded by Gary Lineker, is closing its TV production arm to focus on audio content.
Lineker and business partner Tony Pastor are voluntarily liquidating Goalhanger Films Ltd, which was the outfit’s original incarnation, founded in 2014.
Goalhanger Films produced documentaries including Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health for the BBC and Keane & Vieira – Best of Enemies for ITV.
Pastor told Deadline that the success of podcasts including The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Entertainment meant the company had switched its focus to Goalhanger Podcasts.
“We effectively mothballed Films and set up a bespoke company concentrating on podcasts,” he said. “There was a period in which I ran them in tandem, but the growth of podcasts was so explosive and television is challenged, so we’ve now done some housekeeping.”
He added: “We’ve gone from a production company being entirely beholden to commissioners and the budgets of broadcasters to having a degree of self-control, whereby we are self-commissioning.”
The decision to close Goalhanger Films comes as the BBC announced that Lineker will be stepping down as the presenter of Premier League highlights show Match of the Day next year.
Lineker, the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, will continue to host live football matches for the corporation, including coverage of the 2026 World Cup.
As part of his new deal with the BBC, Lineker’s The Rest is Football podcast will stream on BBC Sounds. The show is co-hosted by Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, who also appear on Match of the Day.
Match of The Day: Top Ten, another Goalhanger podcast, is already available on BBC Sounds.