Podcast Network Asia Archives

Manila, Philippines – Digital and mobile solution provider AdSpark and Philippine-based media and technology company Podcast Network Asia (PNA) have entered into a new partnership in a bid to improve and grow the existing podcast industry in the country, as more and more creators venture into the podcast scene, taking advantage of the growing surge of podcast listenership.

This newly minted partnership gives brands an exclusive access to branded podcast production services, and even advertising, to leverage on chart-topping Podcasts and locally-produced shows under PNA. Advertisers can also optimize this medium through its data analytics and ad marketplace platform Podmetrics, and develop based on data and insights. This is also a way for podcast creators to thrive and find value through in-depth listenership insights.

Such partnership echoes the large listenership in the country, as the Philippines is ranked 6th in terms of fastest-growing country by podcast listening. This is at around 31M listeners in the Philippines alone, with the majority coming from a 23-34 age range. A key factor is, due to the pandemic, screen fatigue increased and consumers turned to on-demand audio for entertainment. Globally there is a 42% increase in podcast listening, and the Philippines is at a 100% increase.

For Ron Baetiong, CEO at the Podcast Network Asia, they aim to bring podcasting to the mainstream, evident to their status as a podcast network home to more than 130 shows with around 15M listens and 4,000 episodes.

“Our grand vision of turning the Filipino podcasting community into a thriving industry becomes one step closer to reality with this partnership between PNA and AdSpark. We believe that podcasts are a powerful medium that don’t just allow listener understanding and retention, but also great Ad ROI conversions. With AdSpark, we want to enable brands to leverage podcasts since the future of podcasting is very bright,” Baetiong stated.

As an advertising medium, ‘podvertising’ or the nature of advertising in podcast channels, allows brands to tap into various demographics, age ranges, and other factors through the different shows. The interest in and usage of podcasts as an advertising touchpoint is exponentially moving upward and more brands are being enabled to communicate and even create audiences.

“Part of the adtech play is to deliver the demand for audio content, along with the omnichannel experience we create for our clients. We want to be able to connect brands to their listeners through relevant audio content, and we are committed to rebuilding effective audio advertising on digital through Podcast Network Asia,” said Gretchen Largoza, CEO at AdSpark.

Manila, Philippines – Podcast Network Asia (PNA), a Philippine-based media and technology company, has recently concluded its seed funding round, valued at around US$750k.

The funding round has seen participation from Lisa Gokongwei, president of Summit Publications, multi-focus venture capital firm Foxmont Capital, and Jakarta-based VC firm Venturra Discovery, as well as Filipino live-streaming platform Kumu.

Commenting on her participation, Gokongwei said, “I think podcasting is still in the early stages of growth in the country, and that PNA has put a stake in the ground ahead with a scalable business model. The team knows the industry well and they are quite passionate.”

Funds collected from the investment round will be used to expand the company’s presence in the Southeast Asia region, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Since its establishment in August 2019, PNA has helped podcast creators have access to production support and monetization opportunities. Over the course of the pandemic, PNA has since grown its roster to 93 shows. With four Spotify-exclusive shows, PNA is also home to the top podcasts in the Philippines, including ‘Boiling Waters’, ‘Eve’s Drop’, ‘Kool Pals’, and ‘Walwal Sesh’.

For Ron Baetiong, CEO and co-founder of Podcast Network Asia, podcasting is already entering its ‘golden age’, as statistics from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and consulting firm PwC, podcast advertising has grown exponentially along with the increase of podcast shows which is estimated to be at 1M. From 2015 to 2020, podcast ad revenue grew exponentially from US$69M to US$659M and is forecasted to reach a value of US$1B in 2021.

“We are very excited with what this investment allows us to do – with the Philippines as the sixth fastest-growing country in terms of listenership plus our own listenership, which already stands at 10M; we can scale up and continue the momentum we’ve built in the Philippine podcasting industry and replicate it across the region,” Baetiong said.

PNA will also leverage its data analytics and ad marketplace platform Podmetrics.co, which allows monetization opportunities to the global podcast market. With the new funding, PNA hopes to grow its client network, which currently has 415 podcasts signed to Podmetrics.

As the client numbers of Podmetrics Marketplace, a feature within the Podmetrics.co platform, is slated to grow, users will now be able to take advantage of viewing total podcast analytics, applying to affiliate marketing campaigns, brand collaboration for episode sponsorships, and viewing campaign impressions, conversions, and other podcast metrics.

“Podcasting is still in its nascent stage in Southeast Asia. When we look at top-charting podcasts, [a] majority of them launched within the past year. The industry has strong momentum, as audio streaming platforms are doubling down on this segment. We believe we can empower creators to improve and commercialize their content through data analytics and production support,” said Raditya Pramanay, partner at Venturra Discovery