Steven Bartlett, host and creator of chart-topping business podcast The Diary of A CEO, is launching a podcast network at the start of next year, and is looking for new partners and new hires.
According to a LinkedIn post published yesterday, the entrepreneur plans to build the “largest podcasting network within Europe”, building off the success that DOAC has achieved since its launch, now up to approximately 40 million downloads per month across its three major platforms and 9 distribution partners.
DOAC’s platform already has its own advantages that Bartlett plans to incorporate in the network, including in-house proprietary technology, podcast performance data, a podcast testing platform, in-house AI-powered translation technology and tools to streamline the entire podcast process, a cross-platform promotion system, and more.
“We believe we understand the dark arts of how to be successful in podcasting and we've built a platform that can make more shows successful,” said Bartlett on LinkedIn. “With this platform at the start of the new year, we're going to launch a new podcast network that we believe will create a new industry standard for podcasting. Social-first, data driven and enabled by AI!”
The current team within DOAC includes almost 30 members that work behind the scenes, including data scientists, experimentation managers, trailer editors, social media managers, guest bookers and researchers, and so on. For the network, Bartlett plans to appoint a CEO to run it, “potentially” one anchor investor to fund the network alongside himself, and partners to support it.
Bartlett said that he’s already had a series of discussions with top brands, media companies, and commerce groups that are interested in ‘The Network’ but is also open to taking more ideas before making a decision this month. For anyone who thinks they could add value and want to speak to Bartlett about The Network, they can send an email to TheNetwork@StevenBartlett.com.
DOAC recently took part in Spotify’s pilot testing phase of AI technology to translate podcast episodes into other languages while retaining the host’s voice. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek posted a video of the pilot-run last week which features English podcasts translated into Spanish, including a clip from DOAC. Ek also appeared as a guest on the podcast later that week.