SiriusXM Acquires Simplecast For Podcast Management

SiriusXM announced today the acquisition of Simplecast, a leading podcast management platform that enables podcasters to publish, manage, and measure their content.  The Simplecast solution, paired with the award-winning monetization platform of AdsWizz, the adtech subsidiary of SiriusXM, creates an end-to-end solution that enables creators to publish and generate revenue from their podcasts, all in one place.

Led by Founder & CEO, Brad Smith, the Simplecast platform, with its leading content management, audience analytics, and dynamic audio toolset, MAE (Moveable Audio Engine), has attracted some of the largest and most highly respected brands and publishers including Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Netflix, Maximum Fun, Cloud10, QCODE, Anna Faris is Unqualified, Blue Wire, and Revision Path. The Simplecast platform is employed by a wide range of creators, from enterprise-level publishers and networks to independent niche podcasters.

Simplecast and AdsWizz will form SiriusXM's publisher solution business, a full-service platform designed to meet the needs of podcast creators of all sizes.  The acquisition expands and strengthens SiriusXM's and Pandora's tools and monetization services for podcasters and publishers.  Through AdsWizz, SiriusXM offers a leading adtech solution for podcasters and networks, from dynamic ad insertion to ad serving, new programmatic solutions for podcasting, and the AdsWizz Podcast Marketplace, PodWave. Through Pandora for Podcasters, creators can easily submit their podcasts to reach Pandora's millions of users and get access to data analytics tools and useful audience insights.

"Our goal is to provide audio publishers with state-of-the-art platforms and give them everything they need to be successful," said Alexis van de Wyer, CEO of AdsWizz.  "Empowering podcasters of any size to create, distribute, analyze, and monetize their work is the next natural step in pursuing our vision."

"From the beginning, Simplecast's mantra and mission was to remain laser-focused on podcast creators - building the best tools for publishing and insights," said Brad Smith, the Founder & CEO of Simplecast. "The opportunity and alignment with AdsWizz allows our product -- and our customers -- access to a powerful monetization platform.  Two best-in-class platforms are now able to align with the shared mission of helping publishers succeed, while each team continues to focus on their respective areas of expertise."

With the integration between AdsWizz and Simplecast's MAE, podcast publishers are able to take advantage of the integrated solution starting today.

SiriusXM was represented by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP as counsel.  Simplecast was represented by Telos Advisors, LLC as exclusive financial advisor and Sullivan & Worcester LLP as counsel.