Acast to manage ad sales and distribution for Higher Ground podcasts, bringing them to audiences everywhere

Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company, will manage ad sales and content distribution for Higher Ground podcasts.

The relationship between Acast and Higher Ground is a win for listeners across the United States and around the globe. Acast will make several Higher Ground podcasts available to audiences for free on all podcast platforms and listening apps globally. Select Higher Ground podcasts will now support sponsorships, advertising, and branded integrations through Acast’s industry-leading technology, which allows brands to reach listeners of those podcasts across all platforms.

Higher Ground produces some of the most popular and iconic podcasts in the industry — including the recently launched Audible Original series Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast; the hit series Renegades: Born in the USA, a series of conversations between President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen and released as a New York Times bestselling book based on the podcast; The Michelle Obama Podcast; Tell Them, I Am, an audio collection of universal stories from Muslim voices; The Big Hit Show, a series of audio documentaries hosted by Alex Pappademas that focus on the pieces of popular culture that have defined and changed our culture; as well as The Sum Of Us, from Heather McGhee, author of the New York Times bestselling book of the same name.

The deal follows Higher Ground’s collaboration with Audible for a first-look podcast deal and the launch of Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast, an Audible Original podcast. Each podcast episode will be exclusively on Audible for two weeks, and then will be distributed widely by Acast and available wherever podcasts are found.

“Higher Ground continues to deliver among the most engaging and high-caliber audio content in the industry, and we look forward to teaming up with them to make vital storytelling available to communities all over the globe,” said Ross Adams, CEO at Acast. “This relationship marks an exciting new chapter not only for Acast, but for the audio industry at large, as we work hand-in-hand to make the world a more connected place.”

Dan Fierman, Head of Audio at Higher Ground, stated: “We’ve been deeply impressed by the creativity and innovation of the Acast team. We are excited to work with their team to bring our growing slate of audio content to existing fans and new audiences.”

Now, brands and agencies can purchase ads, sponsorships, and integrated branded content partnerships on a number of Higher Ground podcasts that make use of Acast’s pioneering dynamic ad insertion technology, which allows advertisers to reach audiences using conversational targeting, first-party data targeting, listener demographics, location, and more. Ads may be purchased from Acast either programmatically or direct. Sponsors can work with the Acast Creative team to create bespoke brand integrations, such as branded mini-series, episodes, or Sponsored Stories for those podcasts.