Acast announces exclusive podcast deal with BBC

Acast has today been named as BBC’s official commercial partner to lead the monetisation of its podcasts and audio outside the UK.

The exclusive deal is the first time the BBC has offered advertising around its podcast library since it began producing podcasts in 2004.

The deal covers all podcasts available outside the UK from one of the world’s biggest podcast producers, with content across topics from news to drama to all things entertainment.

“Podcasts are one way we’re reinventing BBC radio to engage younger audiences with our world class content, said director of BBC Radio and Music Bob Shennan.

“We’re working with established and new talent to produce shows which are informative and entertaining as only the BBC can be. The BBC has been challenged to generate more commercial income to supplement the licence fee and this new deal will contribute to that.”

Acast, founded in 2014, will now use its leading market analytics and advanced targeting abilities to work with the BBC and monetise its international content.

“Acast is dedicated to supporting a new era of on-demand content for the BBC,” added Acast CEO Ross Adams.

“Our focus as a business is to enable the best content creators to do their best work by removing the technical and commercial friction from the process of making great audio.

“Our extensive international sales network coupled with our agile engineering resources open up the possibilities for partners like the BBC.”