CBC/Radio-Canada and Acast announce podcasting sales partnership

CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada’s public broadcaster, today announced that it has chosen Acast as its first official podcast partner for international sales. Acast will help grow CBC/Radio-Canada’s acclaimed podcast slate globally by selling advertising and sponsorships to clients outside of Canada — including in the US and Europe.

With more than 11 million listens each month, CBC/Radio-Canada’s portfolio of high-quality podcasts includes L’ombre du doute, Personal Best, Histoires d’enquête, Love Me, Ça s’explique, Transmission, Par hasard la science, and global hits Alone: A Love Story, Uncover, Someone Knows Something and Hunting Warhead, a unique international co-production with Norway’s Verdens Gang (VG) newspaper, including input from Australia’s ABC Audio Studios.

The partnership with Acast means CBC/Radio-Canada’s podcast growth will be supported by the world’s only truly global podcast sales company, with Acast’s sales teams in 10 countries expanding the advertising and sponsorship potential for all CBC/Radio-Canada podcasts.

CBC/Radio-Canada joins Acast’s growing portfolio of premium podcast publishers, which already includes the likes of the BBC, The Economist, Radio New Zealand, the Financial Times, VICE and Vogue.

According to Edison Research, 36 per cent of the Canadian adult population listened to podcasts every month in 2019 — up from 28 per cent the year before.

Acast’s global head of content, Susie Warhurst said: “With millions of listens each month, CBC/Radio-Canada is truly considered to be one of the world’s leading podcasting publishers, but one of the most exciting things is that they’re being listened to much further afield. Our partnership will allow them to make the most of that global opportunity by expanding into new markets and bringing in revenue from all over the world.”

Heather Gordon, Director, Digital Sales, CBC & Radio-Canada Media Solutions said: “Our mandate is to inform, enlighten and entertain listeners, and we are excited to be partnering with Acast to support our global ambition and reach, as we look to bring Canada to the world through our unique and diverse original programming. Acast’s experience representing premier podcast brands, perfectly aligns with our award-winning content and global pursuits.”

CBC/Radio-Canada recently launched two new audio streaming platforms, CBC Listen and Radio-Canada’s OHdio, offering a rich array of audio, music and podcast content in one place. With Ohdio, audiences can now easily locate and listen to their favourite ICI RADIO-CANADA PREMIÈRE and ICI MUSIQUE programs live or in catch-up mode, and also explore the best podcasts, an extensive collection of audiobooks, ICI MUSIQUE Classique streaming audio, as well as music playlists and albums for every occasion. CBC Listen transports audiences into a world of sound, providing access to more than 200 free, curated CBC Music playlists featuring brand new releases from Canadian artists; CBC’s full podcast catalogue; and the ability to listen to CBC Radio One and CBC Music radio shows live, with select shows on-demand.

About Acast

Acast is the world’s largest podcast company. Since 2014, Acast has been the engine powering audio for makers all over the world. At its core, Acast connects audio makers with the financial support they need to create amazing content while also delivering the audience they want. Acast works with podcasts globally including the Earios network, Forever35, My Dad Wrote a Porno, Off Menu, David Tennant Does A Podcast With, The Adam Buxton Podcast, Sanspants Radio, Alice & Bianca, Watch What Crappens and Varvet a s well as those of publishers such as BBC, The Times, Yahoo!, Guardian, VICE and Vogue. As a global business, Acast has offices around the world from Stockholm to Sydney and a team of 180 talented audio lovers working diligently to create a sustainable audio and voice ecosystem to ensure that the audio industry continues to grow and flourish. Acast was co-founded by Johan Billgren.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.