Podcast tech and sales company Acast is partnered into the start.
The Crowd leadership team consists of CEO Mike Carr, former editor of BBC Radio Sport; content director Steve Jones, an award-winning BBC radio and podcast producer; creative director Tom Fordyce, the former chief sports writer for the BBC and one third of That Peter Crouch Podcast; and talent director Louise Gwilliam, former rugby union producer for BBC 5Live.
Seven titles are planned for release in 2020. No details yet.
Nothing modest about the group’s ambition: “Our vision is to be Europe’s largest audio-on-demand network,” said CEO Mike Carr in a statement. “The UK podcast market is playing catch-up with the US, but we have a plan to blaze a trail and close that gap. Podcasts are on the cusp of moving from a niche to a mass-market channel and we aim to be at the vanguard as that transition takes place.”
Developing podcast talent in Manchester is a launch focus — appreciated by the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, who contributed this statement: “Following the exponential success and growth of TV and film on demand services, such as Netflix, iPlayer and now BritBox and Disney+, audio-on-demand is an exciting and developing industry with huge potential.”
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