Acast doubles monthly listens to reach 100 million, crosses one and a half billion all-time downloads

London, UK—Acast - the world’s leading digital audio and voice technology company - today announces that its monthly listens have doubled year on year and have now passed the 100 million mark. Additionally, in the four years since the company was founded in Stockholm, Acast podcasts and digital audio content have been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times around the world.

The results follow a period of strong growth for Acast driven in part by its deal with the BBC, who produce hundreds of podcasts globally - from The Archers to Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review. Acast has become the official commercial partner to lead on the monetisation of BBC podcasts and audio outside of the UK with the exclusive deal, marking the first time that the broadcaster has offered advertising around its podcast portfolio. In addition to the BBC, Acast is home to a diverse roster of shows including those of The Guardian, The Economist, The FT and Sky Sports and independents including My Dad Wrote A Porno, The Adam Buxton Podcast, The High Low and Griefcast.

In the US, Acast works with shows from VICE, Vogue, Huffington Post and Yahoo! as well as Plz Advise, Ask A Clean Person, and Watch What Crappens.

In Sweden, Acast works with DN, Aftonbladet, Expressen and Bonnier, and independents including Alice & Bianca - Har du sagt A får du säga B, Spår, Filip & Fredrik podcast, Wahlgren & Wistam, Fördomspodden and Värvet. In Australia, Acast works with 2 Guys 1 Cup, NOVA Entertainment, The Betoota Advocate, and the Kinderling Kid’s Radio network.

Acast CEO Ross Adams says: “Audio is growing, the industry is attracting more and more diverse voices and we’re seeing people flocking to our platform to listen to them. Our work with the BBC shows that as the audiences for audio on demand continue to increase rapidly, so does the demand for advertising alongside it, around the globe. As we expand our offering into new content forms including the at-home smart speaker world, we expect to only see this number continue to rise.”

In the UK, Acast research conducted with Ipsos as part of the quarterly Acast Audio Intelligence Report has shown that an estimated 23% of the UK population has listened to a podcast in the last month and on average, podcast fans spend more than 3.6 hours per week listening to shows. They also earn on average 37% more than non-listeners, making them an attractive audience for a wide range of brands.

The same research shows that an estimated 29% of the US population have listened to a podcast in the last month and on average, podcast fans spend more than 3.5 hours per week listening to podcasts. By comparison, other listening media, such as audiobooks and music, attract between 4 to 5 hours of weekly listen time.