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On November 18, reports surfaced online that fan-favorite gearhead web series Roadkill was ending after a successful and consecutive 13-season run. The news was first shared by the show’s co-host Mike Finnegan via Reddit on the r/Roadkillshow community page, on a two-year-old Reddit thread started by him.
“I just learned that it's over. After the end of Season 13, which we just finished filming a few weeks ago, there will be no new episodes of RK filmed. The Motor Trend production company is shutting down. No specific reason was given to me for its demise,” Finnegan wrote.
The 46-year-old further continued:
“We had an excellent run and I'm proud of what the team accomplished but this does seem to be the end of RK. I'm unsure of who owns the RK IP or who to ask why it ended.”
Automobile industry insider Ryan Brutt aka The Auto Archaeologist claimed on social media how the show's end was reportedly linked to the closure of the MotorTrend Production Company. Brutt alleges that parent company Discover/ Warner Bros. shut it down as they were reportedly in multi-billion-dollar debt.
Exploring further on the permanent wrap-up of Roadkill
Roadkill has been running since 2012. It originally premiered on YouTube and later moved to Discovery+. Earlier this week, it was announced that the beloved car show has been limited to 167 episodes and will not be renewed for the 14th season. Amid this, Ryan Brutt took to Instagram and shared a picture from the series with the words, “R.I.P. Roadkill” written.
“So, I just heard that the entire MotorTrend Production Company has been shut down by Discovery/WB. They are 41 Billion Dollars in debt, it isn't surprising. But just so sad, I was there at the beginning, and I think I'll be there at the end. What a run of awesome,” he captioned the post.
He also doubled down on Facebook and urged fans to follow MotorTrend’s shows on YouTube, the links of which he also shared. Meanwhile, another co-host David Freiburger took to Instagram to confirm the rumors.
However, he mentioned how there were several new episodes for fans to watch out for, not only for Roadkill but also other shows from the MotorTrend brand including, Roadkill Garage, Hot Rod Garage, Faster with Newbern and Cotton, and Roadworthy Rescues – all of which were no longer in production.
Freiburger explained how there was a brand-new episode of Roadkill already streaming on Discover+ and Max, while more were scheduled to air soon. He added how the whole season of the show would also be available on MotorTrend cable TV in 2025.
David urged fans to watch the new episodes as well as re-watch the old ones as the whole crew put a “lot of effort” into them, not only now but for “eternity.” The co-host mentioned how the episodes were “good” and all of them would be available on “social media and beyond.”
He wrapped up by quipping that the show lasted “long enough” maybe not as much as The Simpsons, but definitely longer than Friends. As per the MotorTrend website, the TV channel will continue running as will be the popular Detroit-based annual drag-racing event, Roadkill Nights.
While Dave Freiburger did not cite the reason behind the closure, Ryan Brutt’s claim might be true. Amid the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery (now known as Warner Bros. Discovery), it was reported in August this year that there was a 9.1 billion write-down in their joint TV networks.
Former Hot Rod Magazine editor-in-chief David Freiburger and its staff editor Mike Finnegan created the flagship show in 2012 by “accident.” The latter, in his 2017 appearance on the podcast The Muscle Car Place recollected how he and Davis decided to film a road trip from El Paso, Texas to Los Angeles, California, and put the video on the magazine’s YouTube channel.
When the video became a hit, Hot Rod founded a production company called MotorTrend, and soon they officially launched Roadkill which eventually earned a whopping 7 million subscribers. Subsequently, several spinoffs were also born including Roadkill Garage, Faster with Finnegan, and more.
In 2017, Discovery acquired a stake in the company, which was renamed MotorTrend Group. Five years later, the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery took place, giving them joint rights and ownership.
Dirt Every Day and Engine Masters were two other shows from MotorTrend that got canceled in recent times.
