Global media and entertainment company Warner Bros. Discovery has signed an exclusive ad sales and distribution deal with Acast, the podcast hosting platform announced.
Acast will now be home to Warner Bros. Discovery’s podcast portfolio, which spreads across multiple brands including Food Network, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, and the Travel Channel.
As part of the partnership, Acast will take over hosting and distribution duties for these shows. Brands will also be able to advertise on these podcasts through Acast, with opportunities for both programmatic and host-read sponsorships on the shows.
“From bone-chilling investigative true crime tales to mouthwatering cooking content and everything in between, the premium Warner Bros. Discovery podcast slate truly has something for everyone,” said Acast Creator Network senior vice president Veronika Taylor. “We, at Acast, look forward to connecting these amazing stories with more listeners and advertisers around the world.”
Warner Bros. Discovery’s television channel Investigation Discovery already has a pre-existing relationship with Acast, having signed with the podcast company in 2020. Acast hosts and monetises content from the brand including true crime podcasts Disappeared, Unraveled, and Mind of a Monster.
“Our experience with Acast and their technology-driven approach to monetising and growing audiences for our true crime content with Investigation Discovery was a proven success, making it easy to choose them as a partner to represent the rest of our select slate,” said Warner Bros. Discovery vice president of podcasts Lisa DeCanio.
Recent partnerships for Acast also include its deal with podcast subscription network Luminary, which the podcast hosting platform announced at the start of last month. This partnership marked the first time that Luminary went beyond its exclusivity model for first-party content, with Acast distributing six of its original shows across all major podcast platforms.
