Podcast hosting and technology platform Glassbox Media has announced the acquisition of chart-topping educational kids podcast Who Smarted? from award-winning production company Atomic Entertainment Network.
The thrice-weekly kids audio series is targeted at audiences aged 6-10, and currently ranks as the third most popular podcast in the Education for Kids category across the US on Chartable. Glassbox says the podcast is expected to soon cross 10 million downloads after launching two years ago, with 750,000 downloads forecast for April alone.
With this partnership, Glassbox Media hopes to grow the podcast’s reach across a global audience. The company offers a number of features for its podcasters including distributing shows more widely by tracking their data and analytics and providing developmental funding to grow the value of their shows' IP by adapting it into diverse new formats.
"As the market for educational podcasts continues to expand rapidly, shows like Who Smarted? are filling an evident gap in the market for high-quality, interactive content that makes learning fun,” said Glassbox Media CEO and co-founder David Segura. “We couldn’t be more excited to have Who Smarted? join the Glassbox family and are delighted to bring the captivating show to a younger group of listeners worldwide, helping kids of all ages to learn and grow in a fun and engaging way.”
Atomic Entertainment was created by screenwriter Adam ‘Tex’ Davis, who is also the show’s head writer, and producer Jerry Kolber who hosts the show as ‘The Trusty Narrator’. The pair have launched a number of other shows together in the past, including another kids podcast with Spotify titled Deep Blue Sea, Emmy-nominated National Geographic show Brain Games and hit Netflix kids science show Brainchild.
GlassBox Media has acquired a number of premium podcasts in the past to help grow the shows, including documentary podcast On The Edge with Andrew Gold which increased its monthly downloads by 37% since its acquisition. It also financially supporting the episode output of shows by CrawlSpace Media and helped grow the audience of politics podcast Richard Syrett’s Strange Planet.
“Our goal was to create a podcast that would make learning fun and funny for kids. Hearing how much kids, families, and educators love the show has been truly rewarding. And watching our numbers grow and grow each month has been nothing short of thrilling,” said Kolber. “Teaming up with Glassbox Media is a dream come true because it means we can now bring our educational content to even more families, empowering them to equip their children for success. It’s an incredibly exciting time for us, and we can’t wait to continue inspiring curious, young learners all over the world.”
