That we’re seeing a change in ownership for Pocket Casts shouldn’t come as a surprise. A spokesperson for Automattic noted that the company had no additional details to share beyond what’s mentioned in the official blog post on the matter, and a message by Ivanovic and Simpson sent out to its user base yesterday morning stated that they expect to share more details on what this transition for the app means over the coming weeks, and that they don’t expect users to notice any immediate changes to Pocket Casts for now. The terms of the deal were not made public. The move was announced early Friday, with Automattic stating that the co-founders of the popular podcast app, Russell Ivanovic and Philip Simpson, will continue to lead the product after the change in ownership. Some news, in case you missed it: Pocket Casts acquired by Automattic, parent company of Wordpress. Under its public media ownership, the app was made free to download after previously costing $3.99.This article first ran in Hot Pod, an industry-leading trade newsletter about podcasting by Nick Quah. NPR’s share of the loss was more than $800,000. NPR’s financial statement showed that Pocket Casts had a net loss in the network’s fiscal year 2020. NPR and NYPR increased their ownership stake to 34.6% each, while CPM decreased its stake to about 27.5%. The organizations formed Podcast Media LLC, which operates the podcast platform and is governed by a board of representatives from each organization.īBC Studios Americas acquired a small ownership stake last year in Pocket Casts - about 3.4%, according to the NPR AFR. NPR, New York Public Radio and Chicago Public Media acquired Pocket Casts in 2018, with each taking a one-third ownership stake. NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara told Current that “the plan of a sale” of Pocket Casts is in “early stages of development.” Lara did not respond to other questions about the sale. Moog did not respond to Current’s questions about the sale. Pocket Casts CEO John Gibbons did not respond to Current’s questions, calling the situation a “fluid event.” Gibbons referred questions to board chair Matt Moog, interim CEO at Chicago Public Media.
The public broadcasters who own Pocket Casts are selling the podcast platform, less than a year after it was declared public media’s “ answer to Spotify.”Ī board made up of representatives of Pocket Casts’ owners - NPR, New York Public Radio, Chicago Public Media and BBC Studios Americas - agreed in December to sell the platform, according to NPR’s latest audited financial report.
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