Acast partners with German news platform ThePioneer to start paid member-only podcast strategy

Using technology from Swedish podcast company Acast, the German journalism platform ThePioneer launches paid member-only high-quality podcast content across all podcast platforms.

ThePioneer’s goal is to establish an independent, pluralistic and participatory political and business journalism that forgoes advertising revenues in all editorial formats and focuses on reader participation.

Now with the introduction of Acast technology, ThePioneer is starting to expand its paid service, initially with the popular Tech Briefing Podcast, and soon to be followed by other well-known and new podcasts later this year and in 2021.

Stefanie Schlereth, Head of Digital Product at Media Pioneer Publishing AG comments: “As paid podcasts are still a completely new territory in journalism, it was clear to us that we had to offer not only content excellence but also the best possible user experience. We are therefore very pleased that we have found a partner in Acast that enables Pioneer members to continue to enjoy listening not only on our own channels, but also in their familiar environments.”

Paulus Yezbeck, Head of Content, at Acast Germany: “As the world market leader in podcast hosting and monetisation, we have been working hard to make podcasts an important part in our publishers’ paid content mix and we are proud to have launched Acast Access as a result, which lets subscribers consume their favourite (paid) podcasts on their favourite apps. First results from testing with partners like the Financial Times or The Economist in the UK show that the technology is very well accepted, so we are extremely pleased to launch our partnership with such an innovative publisher in Germany and support ThePioneer in its pioneering role in digital journalism.”

The cooperation with ThePioneer is an important step in Acast’s German expansion. Celebrating its one year anniversary in Germany the region has developed at an incredible pace over the past year turning into one of the largest markets long-term.

Not only have podcast appetite and consumption soared, but big media houses such as Bertelsmann/RTL and Pro7Sat1 as well as publishers are creating long-term podcasting strategies that act as audio companions to their outlets and drive significant spend in what is becoming amature market. In July, June and May 2020 Acast has recorded an average of 5.3 million listens of Acast hosted content per month in Germany.