Global Launches News Agents Plus Subscription Tier

Global has added The News Agents to its Plus subscription service, with ad-free episodes and a weekly listener question-and-answer show.

Global launched The News Agents Plus on November 9, 2026, adding ad-free episodes of the news podcast hosted by Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, plus a weekly question-and-answer episode, a newsletter and a monthly history series. [RadioToday — Global expands Plus with The News Agents podcast (November 9, 2026)]

The extras are built around access. Subscribers get a weekly question-and-answer episode with Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, a weekly newsletter, and a monthly series called Moments That Changed The World, in which Sopel and Goodall revisit events including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 2008 financial crash. The launch follows the podcast's coverage of the United States midterm elections. Group chief executive Simon Pitts said the subscription gives listeners the chance to put their questions directly to the team each week. [RadioToday — Global expands Plus with The News Agents podcast (November 9, 2026)]

The News Agents is the latest title folded into Global's subscription push. James O'Brien Plus has also been made available on Apple Podcasts, alongside Global Player and YouTube, and the company launched Radio Plus in September, replacing commercial breaks with more music across its UK music radio stations. Plus subscriptions already cover The Crime Agents, The Sports Agents and My Therapist Ghosted Me. The pattern is the podcast business in miniature: the free show builds the audience, and the paid tier sells proximity to the hosts. [RadioToday — Global expands Plus with The News Agents podcast (November 9, 2026)]