Acast will distribute Sowt and Kerning Cultures Network’s podcasts across different platforms to bring Arabic language content to global advertisers.
Swedish podcast company Acast has partnered with Sowt and Kerning Cultures Network. The podcast company will use its extensive expertise, reach, and relationships with advertisers to enable the monetisation of the networks’ content, ensuring Arabic voices become more accessible to a broader audience.
Recognising the immense potential of Arabic language content, Acast’s partnerships with Sowt and Kerning Cultures Network mark a significant first for the podcast company. While Acast is already working with major podcast advertisers like Aramco and the Public Investment Fund who are active in the region, there is still a vast untapped potential for the podcast industry in the Middle East and North Africa, as Arabic is spoken by over 350m people worldwide.
Commenting on the partnership, Adam Uytman, Creator Network Business Development Director, International at Acast, said: “We consistently seek opportunities to support the growth of the podcast industry and to provide value to content creators. With these partnerships, we will put thoughtful and noteworthy topics on a central stage in Arabic, and we will connect global and local advertisers with Sowt and Kerning Cultures Network to ensure they are able to continue to produce more and more podcasts.”
Hebah Fisher, Cofounder and CEO of Kerning Cultures Network, added: “Acast moving into MENA is the first time an international player demonstrates a serious interest in building the creator economy for podcasters regionally, and it’s smart: podcasts are an estimated $6bn market opportunity in MENA and have largely gone untapped. We’re thrilled to partner with Acast to grow our ad sales both locally and globally.”
Acast will distribute Sowt and Kerning Cultures Network’s podcasts across listening platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and everywhere else listeners get their podcasts. Advertisers will be able to buy both sponsorship and ads, able to be purchased either programmatically or direct.
Acast-hosted podcasts generate 400 monthly listens globally and now span languages including Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, and more.
