Technology

Posted on July 12, 2019 by staff

Leading US podcast firms partner on ‘Podfront UK’ venture

Technology

US podcast first Stitcher and Wondery are joining forces to provide advertisers and brands in the United Kingdom with the ability to buy premium advertising inventory for top-tier podcast shows.

The joint venture, called Podfront UK, represents the first time advertisers in the U.K. have the opportunity to access a catalog of household-name podcasts from Wondery and Stitcher.

Podfront UK will offer podcasters the chance to monetise their shows within the UK marketplace and will source high-quality podcasts and talent out of the UK for a growing international audience.

“Stitcher has been at the forefront of podcast creation and monetization for over a decade in the U.S., and we have the breadth and depth of listener-provided data and resources to help brands and advertisers in the U.K. tap into this growing audience,” said Erik Diehn, CEO of Stitcher.

“By partnering with Wondery in this endeavor, we bring together our networks and combined expertise to continue this momentum within the European market.”

The U.K. ranks third in listening across the company’s network of more than 250 podcasts, According to Stitcher’s sales organization, Midroll .

Their shows, including Freakonomics, WTF with Marc Maron, Dirty John and Dr. Death are collecting millions of listeners in the U.K.

“Our shows are resonating with audiences in the U.K., with two of them reaching No.1 on Apple Podcasts so far in 2019,” said Hernan Lopez, founder and CEO of Wondery.

“Now we’ll be in a position to directly engage with brand advertisers in the U.K.”

Podfront will be led by podcast veteran Ruth Fitzsimons, who comes to Podfront UK from London-based Audioboom, where she was senior vice president of international operations and content partnerships, overseeing the growth of Audioboom’s U.K., Indian and Australian operations.

In her new role as managing director of Podfront, Fitzsimons will build a sales, content and marketing team tasked with growing the Stitcher and Wondery networks by monetizing existing listening in the U.K., bringing U.K.-based brands to the U.S. market and expanding to European countries where there is demand.

“Podfront UK represents an exciting new chapter for podcasting,” said Ruth Fitzsimons, managing director of Podfront UK.

“It is a testament to the rapid growth of the medium that two of the world’s biggest podcast companies, Stitcher and Wondery, have come together to grow their respective revenue internationally and create a high-quality podcast network outside of the U.S.”