Audioboom acquires UK podcast leader Adelicious

In response to a press launch from July 17, 2025, Audioboom Group Plc has entered right into a binding settlement to accumulate Adelicious Ltd, the award-winning British podcast community. The acquisition creates the UK’s largest homegrown podcast community with 40 million distinctive listeners and greater than 125 million month-to-month downloads and video views.

Adelicious, based by Pascal Hughes and David McGuire in 2020, hosts greater than 200 main podcasts. The community contains Russell Howard’s 5 Sensible Issues, Brief Historical past Of…, The Teen Commandments with Sara Cox and Clare Hamilton, and Historical past Additional. In response to the announcement, Andrew Goldsmith, CEO of Adelicious, will change into President for a consolidated UK division below the Adelicious model.

Audioboom’s present British podcast roster contains No Such Factor As A Fish, Dig It with Zoe Ball and Jo Whiley, the official System 1 podcast Past The Grid, and The Biking Podcast. In response to Audioboom, the mixed scale supplies manufacturers with expanded promoting alternatives and elevated advertising and marketing, expertise and monetisation help for British podcasters.

Abstract

Who: Audioboom Group Plc acquires Adelicious Ltd, with Andrew Goldsmith changing into President of the consolidated UK division below the Adelicious model.

What: Binding settlement creates the UK’s largest homegrown podcast community with 40 million distinctive listeners and greater than 125 million month-to-month downloads and video views, combining Audioboom’s world expertise platform with Adelicious’s portfolio of greater than 200 main podcasts.

When: Announcement made July 17, 2025, following Adelicious’s founding in 2020 and up to date enlargement of its gross sales crew in March 2025.

The place: Transaction creates mixed UK operations below the Adelicious model whereas leveraging Audioboom’s world attain throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia by means of partnerships and distribution platforms.

Why: The acquisition allows each firms to attain their shared objective of taking the very best of British podcasting to a worldwide viewers by combining Adelicious’s content material high quality with Audioboom’s refined expertise, expanded monetisation instruments, and world scale for enhanced promoting alternatives and podcaster help.

Strategic positioning for world enlargement

Stuart Final, CEO of Audioboom, acknowledged: “I’ve lengthy been an admirer of Adelicious as they developed right into a best-in-class podcast community. Our platform will assist supercharge their development with entry to our refined expertise and expanded monetisation instruments.” In response to Final, each firms share the widespread objective of taking the very best of British podcasting to the world.

Andrew Goldsmith, President of Adelicious, commented: “Audioboom is a well-respected audio enterprise and we share the identical philosophies, values, and imaginative and prescient for British podcasting.” In response to Goldsmith, Adelicious has developed considerably over 5 years and appears ahead to bringing the very best of British podcasting to a worldwide viewers.

In response to the founders Pascal Hughes and David McGuire: “We couldn’t be extra excited for the Adelicious crew and we have now little doubt that Audioboom will elevate Adelicious to change into a good larger service to our podcasters.” The founders famous that the podcasting panorama has advanced significantly since they began in 2020, and the brand new partnership ensures Adelicious continues as the proper dwelling for the UK’s main reveals.

Technical and industrial synergies

The acquisition leverages Audioboom’s established world infrastructure. In response to firm supplies, Audioboom is ranked because the fifth largest podcast writer within the US by Edison Analysis. The platform downloads 100 million occasions every month by 35 million distinctive listeners worldwide.

Adelicious strengthened its industrial crew with two new senior hires in March 2025, appointing Liam Robinson and Antonia Digby as Company Gross sales Administrators. In response to Adelicious, Robinson joins with over a decade of expertise in promoting gross sales, together with almost 5 years specializing in podcasts at firms together with The Athletic, Acast and Octave.

In response to the announcement, Antonia Digby brings expertise throughout each audio and agency-side partnerships, most not too long ago as Content material Director at Wavemaker, with earlier roles at Absolute Radio and World Radio. The appointments adopted a robust begin to 2025 for Adelicious, together with a number of main new shopper wins and new partnerships with main publishers Hearst and Quick Media.

Trade context and market dynamics

The acquisition happens throughout vital developments in podcast promoting expertise. In response to recent PPC Land coverage, Triton Digital acquired audio intelligence platform Sounder in March 2024, combining audio streaming expertise with AI-powered podcast insights and model suitability options.

Podcast promoting automation has expanded considerably. In response to PPC Land reporting, Spotify expanded automated podcast shopping for to 170 million listeners throughout 12 markets in July 2025, extending Advert Change and Advertisements Supervisor entry to premium podcast stock.

The UK podcast market reveals robust advertiser demand. In response to PPC Land analysis, new monetization platforms bridge the hole between host-read commercial high quality and programmatic effectivity, addressing technical challenges which have restricted development potential of host-read commercials throughout podcast networks.

Monetary and operational particulars

Wolfson Companions LLC acted because the unique monetary advisor to Adelicious for the transaction. In response to Audioboom’s supplies, the corporate is a worldwide chief in podcasting with reveals downloaded 100 million occasions every month by 35 million distinctive listeners world wide.

Audioboom’s ad-tech and monetisation platform supplies industrial, distribution, advertising and marketing and manufacturing companies for a premium community of high tier podcasts. In response to the corporate, key companions embody the official System 1 podcasts ‘F1: Past the Grid’ and ‘F1 Nation’, ‘True Crime Obsessed’ (US), ‘The Tim Dillon Present’ (US), ‘No Such Factor As A Fish’ (UK) and ‘The Biking Podcast’ (UK).

The platform distributes content material through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Deezer, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, RadioPublic, Saavn, Stitcher, Fb and Twitter, in addition to companions’ personal web sites and cellular apps. In response to Audioboom, the corporate operates internationally with operations and world partnerships throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Market implications for promoting

This consolidation displays broader tendencies in podcast promoting measurement and concentrating on. In response to PPC Land coverage, new capabilities allow advertisers to focus on particular subjects mentioned inside particular person podcast episodes, exceeding conventional show-level concentrating on limitations.

Latest ranking data from Triton Digital covered by PPC Land reveals Audioboom amongst distinguished networks collaborating in podcast measurement companies, with content material like “The Bulwark Podcast” performing strongly in Canadian markets.

The acquisition strengthens Audioboom’s place as world podcast networks compete for promoting income. In response to PPC Land reporting, main content material partnerships proceed reshaping podcast promoting, with firms like The Athletic signing unique offers to monetize rising podcast audiences.

Key Phrases

Advert-tech and Monetisation Platform An built-in expertise infrastructure that mixes promoting expertise with income era methods particularly designed for digital content material creators. These platforms automate the method of connecting content material publishers with advertisers by means of refined algorithms that match viewers demographics with model necessities. For podcast networks, ad-tech platforms deal with all the pieces from stock administration to real-time bidding, whereas monetisation parts guarantee creators obtain optimum income shares from promoting placements and subscription companies.

Programmatic Effectivity The automated shopping for and promoting of promoting stock by means of real-time bidding methods that get rid of handbook negotiations between advertisers and publishers. This technology-driven strategy makes use of knowledge analytics to find out optimum advert placements inside milliseconds, contemplating elements akin to viewers demographics, content material relevance, and historic efficiency metrics. Programmatic methods scale back transaction prices whereas growing concentrating on precision, enabling advertisers to succeed in particular viewers segments extra successfully than conventional media shopping for strategies.

Dynamic Advert Insertion (DAI) A classy expertise that permits advertisers to insert focused commercials into podcast episodes in real-time, relatively than embedding static adverts throughout manufacturing. DAI methods analyse listener knowledge, geographic location, and consumption patterns to ship personalised promoting experiences. This strategy permits podcast networks to monetise back-catalogue content material repeatedly and supplies advertisers with extra granular concentrating on capabilities in comparison with conventional broadcast promoting strategies.

Episode-Degree Contextual Concentrating on A complicated promoting concentrating on methodology that analyses the particular content material, subjects, and themes mentioned inside particular person podcast episodes to find out optimum advert placements. This expertise transcends conventional genre-based concentrating on through the use of synthetic intelligence to know conversational context, enabling advertisers to align their messages with related discussions whatever the present’s main class. The strategy considerably improves promoting relevance and reduces wasted impressions on inappropriate content material.

Income Per Mille (RPM) A crucial efficiency metric that measures the income generated per 1,000 content material downloads or views, offering publishers with insights into their monetisation effectiveness. RPM calculations embody all income sources, together with direct promoting gross sales, programmatic placements, and subscription revenue, divided by complete viewers attain. This metric allows podcast networks to optimise their content material technique and promoting stock administration whereas offering advertisers with clear value comparisons throughout totally different media properties.

Model Suitability Options Complete expertise methods that use synthetic intelligence to analyse content material for potential model security dangers, making certain commercials seem solely in applicable editorial environments. These options scan audio content material for controversial subjects, inappropriate language, or delicate subject material that may injury model popularity. Superior model suitability platforms present granular controls permitting advertisers to specify content material parameters that align with their company values and advertising and marketing targets.

Gross sales Community Consolidation The strategic course of of mixing a number of promoting gross sales operations below unified administration to create bigger, extra engaging stock packages for advertisers. This consolidation allows media firms to supply advertisers simplified shopping for processes, broader viewers attain, and extra aggressive pricing by means of elevated scale. For podcast networks, consolidation reduces operational complexity whereas offering enhanced negotiating energy with main promoting businesses and demand-side platforms.

Host-Learn Commercial Authenticity A premium promoting format the place podcast hosts personally endorse services or products utilizing their pure talking type and private experiences, creating extra credible and fascinating promotional content material than conventional industrial spots. This strategy leverages the intimate relationship between hosts and listeners to generate larger engagement charges and stronger buy intent. Host-read commercials sometimes command premium pricing as a consequence of their effectiveness in driving listener motion and model recall.

Stock Reservation System A classy expertise platform that manages and allocates promoting house throughout a number of content material properties, making certain optimum utilisation of accessible advert slots whereas stopping conflicts between totally different advertiser campaigns. These methods monitor real-time availability, pricing tiers, and marketing campaign necessities to automate the reserving course of whereas sustaining income maximisation targets. Superior reservation methods combine with programmatic platforms to allow seamless transitions between assured and auction-based promoting gross sales.

Cross-Platform Distribution Infrastructure The excellent expertise ecosystem that permits content material creators to concurrently publish and syndicate their materials throughout a number of digital platforms whereas sustaining constant branding and analytics monitoring. This infrastructure contains content material administration methods, automated publishing workflows, and standardised metadata formatting that ensures optimum presentation throughout numerous platforms together with streaming companies, social media, and proprietary purposes. Efficient cross-platform distribution maximises viewers attain whereas minimising operational complexity for content material creators.

Timeline

• 2020: Adelicious based by Pascal Hughes and David McGuire
• March 19, 2025: Adelicious declares gross sales crew enlargement with Liam Robinson and Antonia Digby appointments
• July 17, 2025: Audioboom declares binding settlement to accumulate Adelicious
• March 26, 2024: Triton Digital acquires Sounder for AI-powered podcast insights
• February 15, 2024: Audiohook and Sounder launch episode-level contextual concentrating on
• March 31, 2025: Frequency launches Premium Writer Community for podcast promoting
• July 11, 2025: Spotify expands automated podcast shopping for to 170 million listeners