Acast secures exclusive sales deal with The Irish Times to distribute and monetise its podcast portfolio

Acast, the creator-first podcast company, has signed The Irish Times, Ireland’s leading independent and trusted source of news and journalism, to its network of publisher partners. The exclusive partnership with Acast supercharges The Irish Times’ audio strategy by enabling the publisher to distribute its expanding podcast portfolio to every listening platform, as well as generating revenue through the Acast Marketplace with dynamically inserted ads and programmatic buying.

The Irish Times taps into a weekly audience of one million people across its digital content and print newspaper. Committed to engaging and broadening its audience, as well as strengthening its compelling and distinctive journalism, The Irish Times is investing in new formats such as podcasts to serve the changing needs of its readers.

By partnering with Acast, the publication can focus on making the podcasts, while Acast handles the rest — hosting, distributing and monetising its shows to reach new audiences and unlock new revenue streams. The publisher will also get access to Acast’s powerful analytics tools, to help understand all aspects of its listenership.

On May 24, 2021, The Irish Times launched its newest podcast, In The News. Hosted by journalists Sorcha Pollak and Conor Pope, the show takes a closer look at the stories that matter in Ireland and around the world.

In The News will be published in the morning, initially launching with two episodes per week on Mondays and Wednesdays, but with the aim of increasing this frequency in the months ahead. The goal is to bring a broad range of its journalism to listeners in an accessible, entertaining and authoritative way.

Liam Kavanagh, Group Managing Director at The Irish Times, said: “Our objective is to build the largest possible audience, bringing our trusted journalism to more people in new ways, and working with the world’s leading podcast platform gives us the best possible opportunity to do that.”

"The Irish Times has long been one of the most innovative news organisations in Ireland, jumping into podcasts before many others,” said Jennifer Dollard, Senior Content Development Manager at Acast Ireland. “Counting its podcasts as part of our growing publisher network is a landmark moment for Acast, both in Ireland and globally — we can’t wait to work with its exceptionally talented team.”

The Irish Times is part of the Acast Creator Network, and its shows — including In The News — are available on every podcast listening app, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Spotify. Brands and agencies looking to advertise in The Irish Times’ podcasts can do so exclusively through the Acast Marketplace.