How to advertise on Blank Check with Griffin & David: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

Blank Check with Griffin & David sells its inventory as host-read spots, quoted per campaign rather than off a public rate card. Spotsnow data shows the direct-response share of ads on the show sits at the top of the range, with well over nine in ten reads carrying a code, a URL, or some other attributable hook. The anchor buyer, AG1, has run roughly 15 to 18 ads. For a buyer weighing the show, that's the signal: this is a film-criticism feed that behaves like a direct-response engine. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys.

The show in question is Blank Check with Griffin & David, a director-filmography deep dive hosted by an actor and a working film critic.

Why Blank Check is built for host-read direct response

Griffin Newman, an actor, co-hosts with David Sims, a staff writer and film critic at The Atlantic. That critic credential is the authority the reads borrow. The show sits in food & beverages territory when you look at who buys, even though the feed itself lives under TV & Film.

Spotsnow attributes well over nine in ten of the show's ads to direct response. That format matters because it's measurable: a code, a landing page, a promo URL the host reads out. When the buy converts, you can see it. Spotsnow estimates reach at roughly 125,000 listeners per episode, an estimate rather than an audited count. What makes this feed work for a host-read is its length. These are long, discursive episodes, and listeners stay through the tangents. The ad break rides that same attention. A host who's just spent forty minutes dissecting Scorsese has earned the trust that a coded plug depends on.

On engagement, the show carries a 4.7 average on Apple Podcasts across roughly 5,800 to 6,400 ratings, with about 32,000 Instagram followers. The real influence, though, is concentrated in the feed and the community around it: an active Patreon, the r/blankies subreddit, a Discord. This is a show whose fans show up, not one spread thin across platforms.

Who is advertising on Blank Check

Spotsnow tracked roughly 43 to 50 distinct brands on the show in the recent window, and the roster leans DTC and consumer subscription. Recognizable names include AG1, Chime, Warby Parker, Mint Mobile, and Netflix.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

Huel

Huel sells plant-based, nutritionally complete meal replacements. Spotsnow attributes roughly 7 to 8 ads to Huel on the show, all host-read and 100% direct-response, with estimated total spend over $10,000. It fits because the audience is busy, time-poor, and mid-to-high income, exactly the person who buys a meal they can drink at a keyboard.

AG1

AG1 sells a daily green-powder supplement. It's the anchor spender here, with roughly 15 to 18 ads, all host-read and 100% direct-response, and estimated total spend over $20,000. A health-conscious young-adult audience is AG1's core buyer, and the repeat cadence says the codes keep working.

Zenni

Zenni sells affordable prescription glasses online. Spotsnow attributes roughly 5 to 6 ads, host-read and 100% direct-response, with estimated total spend over $10,000. Value-minded, style-aware buyers who shop online map cleanly onto this listenership.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why TV & Film brands cluster here

The buyers on this feed aren't chasing film fans, they're chasing a mindset. The audience skews male and young to mid adult, mostly US with an engaged international slice, and middle to high income. They sit through hour-plus episodes voluntarily, which is a proxy for the kind of patience that lets a host-read land. Pair that with Sims's critic credential and Newman's insider energy, and the endorsement reads as a recommendation from someone who thinks for a living. That's why supplements, meal kits, and eyewear keep coming back rather than one-and-done streaming buys. A brand isn't renting attention here. It's borrowing judgment. The repeat spend from AG1 and Huel is the proof that the borrow converts.

How your ad could sound

Here's a recent host-read from Huel, the show's top tracked spender, so you can hear the handoff and pacing before you write a script.

Good host-read practice on a show like this is simple. Let the host stay in their own voice, so the read feels like a continuation of the conversation, not a hard cut to a commercial. Front-load the one benefit that matters to this audience, keep the code short enough to say once and remember, and give the host a clean reason to hand back into the episode. Where these reads slip is the offer buried mid-sentence or a code that's easy to mishear. Say the code twice, keep the CTA to a single action, and give the listener a reason to act now rather than later. View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. The format holds attention. Long episodes train listeners to stay through tangents, and the ad break rides that same patience.
2. Host credibility carries the read. A working film critic and a career actor lend judgment that a produced spot can't fake.
3. The audience is the right buyer. Young to mid adult, mostly US, middle to high income, and comfortable buying online.
4. Repeat buying proves the math. AG1 running roughly 15 to 18 ads isn't a test, it's a brand that keeps finding the return.

Blank Check in a nutshell

The audience skews male and young to mid adult, mostly US, middle to high income, and unusually patient with long-form audio. The brands already buying (AG1, Huel, Zenni) run host-read, coded reads, not produced awareness spots. The show is sold on a quoted, per-campaign basis rather than a public rate card. If your goal is attributable direct response with a trusted voice, this feed fits; if you only want broad awareness, look elsewhere in the category.