Mail Metro Media continues on ‘ambitious AV journey’ with new podcasts

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Mail Metro Media plans to launch two entertainment podcast series as part of its commitment to attract new audiences on audio and video platforms.

The news comes as 17% of consumer publishers surveyed by the Association of Online Publishers expected audio and podcasts to be the biggest drivers of growth in the next three years.

AOP survey: Digital publishers expect growth in podcasts and ecommerce

The new podcasts, Straight to the Comments and The Sidebar, were announced to advertising partners at an event on Wednesday, with the former launching in the coming weeks and the latter in March.

Hosted by YouTubers Archie Manners and Joshua Pieters, Straight to the Comments will feature celebrity guests reacting in real time to MailOnline’s comments section.

Meanwhile, The Sidebar, hosted by Richard Arnold, will bring together celebrity guests to discuss topical stories and scoops from MailOnline’s “celebrity sidebar”.

As part of a new focus on audio and video, the Daily Mail and Metro publisher appointed ex-Guardian sales director Guy Edmunds to the newly created role of media director of video and podcast, and Jamie East as head of podcasts, in the past year.

East said the new shows were in the publisher’s “first phase of podcast releases” that have been “specially developed” to appeal to the publisher’s existing audience and attract new, engaged listeners, all while putting Mail Metro Media “firmly on the map” as one of the top publishers in the podcast space.

Dominic Williams, chief revenue officer at Mail Metro Media, said: “Audio and video are a real focus for us as a business right now — from a consumer and commercial perspective. As the largest publisher on TikTok and now with over 3m subscribers on YouTube­, we are in prime position to grow valuable audiences across all these platforms.

“These two new series launches couldn’t be more fitting for MailOnline and bring exciting new opportunities for our advertising partners. It’s an exciting step on our ambitious AV journey.”