In May 2018, Pocket Casts was acquired by NPR, WNYC Studios, WBEZ Chicago and This American Life. The consortium of ‘top podcast producers’ now wants to sell the Android, iOS and web application.
NPR’s latest financial statement, first reported by Current last week, shows that the owners last month ‘met and agreed to sell Pocket Casts, Podcast Media’s sole asset’. Currently the ‘sales plan is still in development’, but the sale is expected to be completed by September 2021. NPR, which owns just over a third of Podcast Media, reported losing $ 812,129 in the past year.
The app was originally purchased for “[further] public radio’s leading role as an innovator in the discovery and distribution of sound, while ensuring the continued support and growth of one of the most popular listening platforms on the market. ”
Meanwhile, the original Pocket Casts developers agreed to the deal, which they saw as a partnership, given the shared vision between them and the new owners:
Going forward, things are going to be different. We will move faster, we will be more ambitious in the things we do, and we will have amazing insights from the best podcast producers in the world to guide our future steps.
Pocket Casts Developer Team, 2018
Since then, Pocket Casts has undergone two major changes. The first was a material theme overhaul that left the beta in March 2019 after four months of testing. Some users were critical of this redesign, given conceptual changes to the operation of the app.
Six months later, the app went free after costing $ 3.99 previously, while a $ 9.99 / year Pocket Casts Plus level was introduced for access to the desktop applications (Mac, Windows and web) apps, Apple Watch support, more themes / icons and cloud storage to upload your own content.
This sale of Pocket Casts comes because Google, Apple, Spotify and Amazon are all making huge investments in the podcasting space. The latter three companies are or are rumored to be working on paid subscriber offers. We contacted Pocket Casts about what this sale will mean for end users.
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