Acast Secures Multi-Year Deal With Aunty Donna in APAC Expansion
Acast bundles Aunty Donna's four shows under one roof to compete in Asia's booming podcast market. Network consolidation is becoming the winning strategy for platform growth.
Acast has signed a multi-year partnership with Australian comedy collective Aunty Donna, consolidating The Aunty Donna Podcast and The Grouse House Podcast Network under a single platform, as competition for premium audio content intensifies across the Asia Pacific region.
Deal Brings Four Shows Under One Roof
The agreement brings The Aunty Donna Podcast back to Acast alongside The Grouse House Podcast Network, which Aunty Donna recently launched to promote Australian alternative comedy voices. The network includes three shows: Ratbag with Mel & Sam, The Mish & Zach Podcast, and The Footy with Broden Kelly.
The Aunty Donna Podcast records over 400,000 monthly downloads and reaches a social media audience of two million. The collective, comprising Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly, and Zachary Ruane, has built its profile across more than a decade through the Netflix series Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, the ABC sitcom Aunty Donna's Coffee Café, international live tours, and multiple other projects.
"We're incredibly chuffed to bring The Aunty Donna Podcast back home to Acast," the group said in a statement. "Having The Grouse House Podcast Network together under the one roof just makes sense for us. It feels like the start of a new era."
The deal coincides with Aunty Donna's planned launch of a proprietary streaming service in April, creating a dual-distribution model where Acast handles open-web audio and advertising while the streaming service builds direct subscriber relationships.
Network Bundling Emerges as Platform Strategy in APAC
The partnership reflects a broader competitive pattern in podcast distribution, where platforms are acquiring entire creator networks rather than individual shows.
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Spotify announced a strategic partnership with The Ringer podcast network in May 2024 to produce and distribute exclusive content, establishing a template that subsequent platform deals have followed. Southern Cross Austereo's LiSTNR platform, which reaches over 10 million Australians monthly, struck an exclusive distribution agreement with US-based Audacy to bring over 300 podcast titles to Australian audiences, competing directly with Acast for advertiser attention in the same market.
The Asia Pacific podcasting market was valued at US$5.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$28.3 billion by 2030, growing at a 29.5% annual rate. Indonesia leads regional adoption with 57% listener penetration, followed by Thailand at 52%, with China projected to hold a 16.6% regional share in 2026.
Acast has noted that fragmented discovery and sharper audience measurement are among the defining challenges in podcast distribution for 2026, issues that consolidating a network under one platform directly addresses for advertisers seeking consistent audience data.
Aunty Donna's Streaming Launch Adds Second Revenue Channel
The April streaming service launch positions Aunty Donna to pursue both platform-based advertising revenue through Acast and direct subscriber income through its owned service simultaneously.
This approach aligns with broader industry movement toward hybrid audio and video formats. Apple updated its terms of service in February 2026 to formally acknowledge video podcasts, while Hulu entered video podcast licensing agreements with comedy podcasts to compete with Netflix and YouTube. YouTube currently holds a 40% audience share in podcasting, with 84% of consumers engaging with video podcast content.
Deloitte forecasts in-app revenue from serialized short-form content will more than double to US$7.8 billion in 2026, up from US$3.8 billion in 2025, a trend that supports Aunty Donna's decision to build a dedicated streaming platform alongside its podcast distribution deal.
Financial terms of the Acast and Aunty Donna partnership were not disclosed.
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