Acast strikes global commercial partnership with Crooked Media

Acast will monetise Crooked Media’s podcasting library for international advertisers as part of a new partnership.

The deal will allow for buyers in Australia and New Zealand, as well as other major English-speaking markets in Canada, the UK and Ireland, to advertise across Crooked Media’s programming.

Brands within these markets will now be able to purchase placement across prominent Crooked titles such as Pod Save America, Lovett or Leave It and Pod Save The World.

Founded in 2017 by a group of former Obama staffers, Crooked Media’s flagship podcast Pod Save America now garners over 1.5 million listeners per episode.

Susie Warhurst, Acast’s senior vice president of content, praised Crooked Media’s content strategy and highlighted the potential for similar deals between independent publishers and podcasters in the US.

“Crooked’s renowned programming has built a name for itself amongst listeners from around the world,” Warhurst said.

“There’s tremendous, untapped potential for US publishers and indie shows to monetise their global
podcast inventory, and it comes down to choosing the right podcasting partner.

“At Acast we see a huge demand and opportunity for international buyers to harness premium, valuable US podcast content with cross-market audiences — driving clear returns for local and global brands alike.”

Crooked Media’s vice president of commercial marketing and creative strategy, Joel Fowler, also commended Acast’s influence within the podcasting sector as being a key factor in partnership between the two companies.

“We’ve been able to build great relationships with advertisers through our honest and sometimes ridiculous host read spots, with many of those sponsors with us since we founded the company,” Fowler said.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Acast, who have such a great foothold on the audio space around the world, to bring Crooked to more partners.”