![]() ![]() ![]() NPR, This American Life, WNYC Studios and WBEZ Chicago have teamed up to buy Pocket Casts, a cross-platform podcast app. America’s National Public Radio ( NPR ) acquired one third of the company in 2018 and this month reported in its most recent financial statement that its stake in Pocket Casts lost 800,000 in the past financial year. The public radio outlets hope to improve the podcast discovery experience, help creators find new audiences and improve insights for producers. Automattic plans closer integrations for the podcast platform with WordPress websites and blog platform Tumblr, also owned by Automattic. Pocket Casts' discover section currently highlights featured, trending and popular shows. The app also includes an Up Next function, which can automatically build a podcast queue for you.ĭeveloper Shifty Jelly said in a blog post while it had received previous offers from other suitors, it had turned them all down. It accepted the group's offer because "everything from their not-for-profit mission focus, to their unwavering belief that open and collaborative wins over closed walled gardens resonated deeply with us." The developer hammered home the point that nothing is immediately changing in the app. Instead, it's using its new resources to improve Pocket Casts. ![]() Shifty Jelly's team will continue working on the app, with former iHeartRadio and Clear Channel vice president Owen Grover joining as Pocket Casts CEO. You can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu. There's no real indication that the NPR group will use Pocket Casts as their exclusive podcast home - they are in public radio, after all, and Pocket Casts is a paid app. The blog post announcing the purchase didnt offer much in the way of a preview, but it did tease potential future integrations. NPR has its own app, NPR One, and still distributes its podcasts through other apps and platforms. Automattic, which runs and recently purchased Tumblr, announced today that its acquired Pocket Casts, the well-regarded podcast app. WordPress parent company Automattic acquired Pocket Casts last July, having been acquired by a group of public radio companies, including NPR, back in 2018. Shifty Jelly hinted at some future plans for Pocket Casts. It may be the case that some of NPR One's features are rolled in, such as letting the app know when you like a story on its personalized stream and skipping the ones you're less interested in. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |