ART19 Partners with Germany’s Audio Alliance

Oakland CA, USA—ART19 today announced a new partnership with Bertelsmann’s Audio Alliance. The network brings over 100 top-quality podcasts to ART19 from Europe’s most talented entertainers and celebrities. The group will develop, produce and market spoken-word audio, leveraging ART19 technology for ad sales and distribution.

Audio Alliance is the first entity founded by the German Bertelsmann Content Alliance. The alliance is made up of six publishing powerhouses: Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, which owns several TV channels as well as various online and streaming platforms; RTL Radio Deutschland, Germany´s biggest private radio network; Fremantle’s German unit UFA; book publisher Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, and the music company BMG. Audio Alliance will work with all Content Alliance divisions to leverage material and talent from more than 68 television channels, 8 streaming platforms, and 31 radio stations.

“We are happy to be partnering with ART19 as we conquer the world of podcasts for all of Bertelsmann´s German content businesses,” said Audio Alliance MD Mirijam Trunk. “While the German market is about four years behind the US market, it is picking up speed and evolving at a fast pace. In order to keep up with the growing demand both from listeners and clients, we need to be able to adapt quickly – we are happy to have found a strong partner for that.”

Oakland-based ART19 has been expanding its international footprint with major publisher partnerships in Europe and Asia. In addition to hosting, distribution, and its own growing ad sales teams, ART19’s long list of integrations with global third-party ad sales networks and DSPs is bearing fruit for overseas publishers, as well as domestic podcasters wanting to monetize internationally. ART19 also recently launched the first Inventory Management and Forecasting platform in podcasting, enabling networks to tackle increased advertising variation with detailed episode download forecasts and overviews of available dynamic ad inventory.

“Bertelsmann’s expansion into podcasting is an indication that the medium has truly arrived in Europe,” said ART19 Chief Revenue Officer Lex Friedman. “They will be a cornerstone partner for us. We’re looking forward to learning from them and to working closely together to develop the many markets they will operate in.”

To listen to Audio Alliance’s upcoming catalogue of shows, visit https://art19.com/networks/audio-alliance-network.