The Australian streaming service and podcast hosting service Whooshkaa has signed the AFL as it's latest big name client. The NRL is already a client as are News Corp and Fairfax. The announcement comes in the lead up to the Grand Final. A press release was issued by the company though so far, at least, we haven't received it directly nor has the AFL publicly confirmed the new arrangement via its media department. (Ed. note: we will update this story if more is received.) From the release it's apparent the company wants to target those unable to get access to AFL content via other means.
The company press release states:
"As millions of diehard fans count down the hours to the biggest sporting event of the year, the Toyota AFL Grand Final, the AFL has signed on with Whooshkaa to step up its podcast game.
With AFL club membership exceeding one million for the first time this season, the national reach of Australian football has never been greater, and the growth is fuelling [sic] the popularity of AFL podcasts.
“We’re excited to take our podcasting to the next level by using Whooshkaa’s audio-on- demand technology,” said AFL General Manager - Growth Digital and Audiences Darren Birch.
“Footy fans can’t get enough of shows such as AFL Exchange, Road to the AFL Draft, the Official AFL Fantasy Podcast with the Traders, and many more club podcasts. Whooshkaa’s advanced technology and advertising platform will make it easier for new and existing audiences to find our shows, and enable us to meet fans' appetites for fresh and engaging audio content."
Whooshkaa Founder and CEO Robert Loewenthal welcomed the AFL as a valuable asset in its sports lineup, which includes the NRL, Cricket Australia, Fox Sports, SEN and individual sporting podcasts.
“Too much sport is never enough,” Mr Loewenthal said. “Only 100,000 lucky people will get to walk through the gates on Grand Final day, but many millions more will watch or listen to the game.
“We know that AFL fans are dedicated; they will be subscribing to podcasts to get all the best info for next season. There are plenty of synergies between sports and marketing and we’re already talking to advertisers about getting on the ladder for 2019.”
An Australian Podcast Intelligence report recently named podcasting as the country’s fastest- growing audio-on-demand medium, with 3.5 million listeners. Advertising recall, effectiveness and brand trust was particularly high when delivered by the podcast host.
Whooshkaa is an industry leader in digital audio technology and ground-breaking popular content, hosting small-scale podcasters to large networks. It delivers best-in-class technology for podcasters and radio networks, breaking new ground with content creation, delivery, dynamic ad insertion and text-to-voice technology."
AFANA will be interested to see how widely the podcasts are distributed and whether major US based podcast services such as Apple iTunesTM and Stitcher pick them up. If this occurs, we will revise our Radio page accordingly.
Article last changed on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - 5:16 PM EDT
