ART19 sent us a note that the company has tightened its grip on South Korea podcasting, now providing hosting, distribution, and exclusive ad-repping to all major broadcasters. This follows a December announcement in which ART19 established a dominant footprint in S. Korea, and opened a business unit called ART19 Korea. (RAIN News coverage HERE.)
In today’s news, the company has finalized deals with four more broadcasting networks: Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Traffic Broadcasting System (TBS), The Korea Herald daily English newspaper (KH), and major digital content studio and influencer network CollabAsia.
South Korea is an important market, both to ART19 and in the global landscape of podcast consumption. South Korea has the world’s most engaged podcast audience, according to the 2018 Reuters Global Media Report. Fifty-eight percent of the population listens to podcasts monthly, and on-fifth of the population considers podcasts “an everyday staple in their lives,” according to local research firm Embrain.
“Our position means that we have a great deal of responsibility,” said Hansoo Kim, CEO of ART19 Korea. “We have an opportunity to define a standard of excellence that makes podcasting an essential medium not only for listeners in South Korea, but also for advertisers. We intend to work closely with all of our partners to achieve this.”