“We now represent the largest digital audio network in Australia…”: Cathy O’Connor

NOVA Entertainment has come together with Acast to create a deeper strategic partnership to become the biggest podcast offering in the Australian market.

NOVA Entertainment and Acast are now the biggest podcast player in the Australian market with over 2,000 podcast shows on both platforms and in excess of 3.5 million monthly listens locally and 56 million globally. This strategic partnership sees NOVA Entertainment now representing and selling all of Acast and NOVA Entertainment’s combined inventory in the Australian market.

Cathy O’Connor, NOVA Entertainment’s CEO said, “Our strategic partnership with Acast is the next step in Nova Entertainment’s leadership in the rapidly growing digital audio sector.  As Acast’s exclusive partner, we now represent the largest digital audio network in Australia in terms of weekly audiences with best in class ad insertion technology, analytics and native content opportunities for Australian advertisers.”

Acast’s platform currently exclusively hosts a number of the world’s biggest podcasts such as The Football Ramble or The Financial Times Shows, and including the global phenomenon My Dad Wrote A Porno which has over 1 million listens in Australia per month.

Acast’s Australian Country Manager Henrik Isaksson said, “Acast has achieved great success in Europe and in the US over the last 3 years bringing together podcasters and advertisers. We are excited to replicate that in Australia with Nova and bring podcasting to the next level here. Being able to provide brands and agencies with unique advertising solutions in podcasts is something that has been missing in the Australian market.”

Nova’s own show content is consistently among the top performers in podcasting with Nova’s Kate, Tim & Marty recording over 500,000 listens per month in Australia. Original productions in non-radio categories are also securing strong numbers and media acclaim. Modern Babies, NOVA Entertainment’s first tailor made podcast for Genea, is the first of its kind and will launch a second season in mid-September. Modern Babies takes a close look at fertility and the IVF industry and has been shortlisted for an industry commercial podcast award.

A number of other new podcast productions are currently in production and will be launching in the Australian market over the coming weeks and months.

The partnership between NOVA Entertainment and Acast has provided the opportunity to discover new talent with the Podquest initiative providing opportunities for new and emerging audio content creators. Launching two successful Podquest series, the winner of series one, Phoebe Parsons’ Confessions of a Twenty Something Train Wreck is prominent on iTunes “new and noteworthy” and number 32 of all podcasts on iTunes.

Podcasters use Acast to host, distribute and monetise their content whilst getting detailed analytics on where, how and when their content is being consumed. Acast connects brands and advertisers with some of the most popular podcasters at scale being the only true end-to-end audio on demand service.

Peter Charlton, NOVA Entertainment’s Group Commercial Officer said, “NOVA Entertainment’s partnership with Acast allows us to give our customers new dynamic advertising opportunities, access to huge brands and unique audio content, and an engaged audience with mass reach extension.

“Acast’s integration into our business has given us market leadership in podcasting and digital audio commercial opportunities. This enables us to provide our clients with access to automated trading, addressable audiences, unique partnership opportunities and a vastly increased scope of listeners.”