Acast’s board has decided that the company will discontinue its podcast app because the user data historically generated by it has been replaced by better data sources.
It also said that the app doesn’t support the company’s vision of a completely open podcast ecosystem.
The app was launched in 2014 when there weren’t many options for listening to podcasts.
Since then, Acast has used its data, but in recent years it has been replaced by more advanced user data from a number of different sources.
Larger data volumes will also be generated based on listeners’ personal podcast preferences from subscribers to the recently launched Acast+ subscription services.
Acast’s business concept is based on being an infrastructure that delivers podcast content to other podcast apps and platforms, so it was felt that having a separate app isn’t in-line with the company’s strategy to be a driving force for the fully open podcast ecosystem.
Most of Acast’s revenue is generated from ads in the podcasts, which should be available on all podcast platforms, so revenue or the number of listens isn’t expected to be affected.
Ross Adams, CEO of Acast, comments: “The app has been with us from the start and has been a great help in the development of our previous services and functions aimed at creators and advertisers. Now is the time to focus even more on our future vision for Acast. We strongly believe in the independent and open podcasting ecosystem and to live up to our promise to be completely platform-independent, we will not have our own app.”
“We want to focus on the products that create the greatest value for our creators and our advertisers. In terms of both useful data and revenue, we now have access to several other products that can give us and our partners so much more than the app can.”
The app is expected to be shut down later this year.
