NOVA Entertainment has partnered with Acast, an on-demand audio platform.
NovaEnt says it will create a deeper strategic partnership and become what is the biggest podcast offering in the Australian market.
NOVA Entertainment and Sweden-based Acast have over 2,000 podcast shows on both platforms in the Australian market 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 exclusively hosts a number of the world’s biggest podcasts such as The Football Ramble, The Financial Times Shows, and 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 says its 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. Nova says its partnership with 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.