Russ: Twenty million dollars for 230 million monthly listeners... feels like they bought them for pennies.
Nadia: I'm Nadia.
Russ: And I'm Russ.
Nadia: And this is The Feed for Thursday, August 13th, 2026.
Russ: We've got three big moves in the industry for you today.
Nadia: Coming up, Acast makes a massive acquisition, snapping up a huge audience network. But is it really all about scale?
Russ: Then, a legendary rock guitarist reunites with his old band after decades apart, but not before warning fans he's... a little rusty.
Nadia: And we'll get into why the international film festival circuit is becoming a crucial hunting ground for the next big podcast.
Nadia: Okay, let's dive into this Acast deal. They just announced they're acquiring Backyard Ventures.
Russ: Right. So lay it out for me, Nadia. Podnews is reporting the price tag is twenty million dollars?
Nadia: That's the number from Podnews, yes. Twenty million.
Russ: Okay. And what does that twenty million actually buy?
Nadia: It buys, and I'm quoting their release, 'audiences of more than 230 million every month.' It's a massive number.
Russ: Hang on. 230 million listeners? Or listens? And who even are Backyard Ventures? I've never heard of them.
Nadia: They're a big ad network, Russ. They specialize in bundling up tons of smaller shows to sell ads against. It's a pure volume play. Acast is buying reach.
Russ: So this isn't like buying Radiotopia. It's buying a giant pile of ad inventory. By my math, that's less than nine cents per monthly listener. That seems... cheap.
Nadia: I'd call it aggressive, not cheap. For Acast, it's about consolidating that long tail so they can promise advertisers enormous scale. Speaking of which, this brings us to our sponsor, Magellan AI.
Russ: Ah, naturally.
Nadia: If you want to know where the ad dollars are actually going, Magellan AI is hosting a live webinar on August 20th breaking down all the top spenders and trends from Q2. You can sign up at Podnews.
Russ: So what does this mean for a listener? Acast just got bigger, and the ads will follow? More programmatic, less host-read, I'm guessing.
Nadia: That's the likely path. More scale means more automation.
Russ: Alright, next up... moving from programmatic ads to the least programmatic thing ever. Variety reports Ritchie Blackmore performed with Deep Purple for the first time since their huge falling out in the 90s.
Nadia: An iconic reunion! This is all about legacy IP and the power of an 'original cast,' something we're always debating in podcasting.
Russ: Maybe, but here's the best part. He apparently told the audience something like, 'I haven't played rock music in 25 years.' What?
Nadia: Well, he's been busy playing renaissance music with his other band, Blackmore's Night. It's not like his fingers stopped working.
Russ: That is NOT the same! It's like a Formula 1 driver saying, 'Well, I've been driving a golf cart for three decades, but sure, let's get back on the track.' You're not just 'a little rusty' at that point.
Nadia: But from a brand perspective, Russ, Deep Purple with Ritchie Blackmore is a totally different, more valuable thing. The fans who waited 30 years didn't care. They got to see 'Smoke on the Water' with the guy who wrote the riff.
Russ: But was it good? That's all I care about! This feels like pure nostalgia bait. What's the podcast equivalent? The original hosts of Serial get back together to investigate a lost cat?
Nadia: That is not a fair comparison. This is about closing a loop for a huge, dedicated fanbase. It's an event. Not everything needs to be a recurring series.
Nadia: For our last story, let's switch from old IP to new IP. Variety is reporting on the Gala Premieres at the Zurich Film Festival.
Russ: Okay, I read this one and I'm a little confused, Nadia. We're a podcast show. These are German movies. Connect the dots for me.
Nadia: Think of it as the top of the content funnel. Major film festivals like Zurich or Cannes are where a ton of intellectual property gets its first big push. And podcast networks are there scouting hard.
Russ: Scouting for what? To make a podcast about the movie, or a podcast version of the movie?
Nadia: Both! A buzzy film like Andreas Dresen's 'Love, After All' could get a companion podcast, or a narrative non-fiction series exploring its themes. If it's a hit, the underlying story is already proven.
Russ: So we're talking about a pre-podcast? This feels like a story about a story about a movie that might someday become a podcast that may or may not be good.
Nadia: It's about where the ideas are coming from! The podcast industry can't just be people in a room with microphones anymore. It's tied into the whole global media ecosystem. Zurich is just one piece of how that system finds and validates new stories.
Russ: Fine. Call me when I can actually listen to the podcast for 'How Can I Help?'. Until then, it feels like homework.
Nadia: Alright, let's recap the headlines.
Russ: Acast bought 230 million monthly listeners for what feels like pocket change.
Nadia: Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple reunited, proving the value of legacy IP... and the guts to manage expectations way, way down.
Russ: And some movies premiered at a film festival. Which might, one day, in the distant future, mean something to a podcast listener. Maybe.
Nadia: Before we go, speaking of reunions, did you see the original team from the early seasons of NPR's Invisibilia are doing a live-streamed panel next month?
Russ: Okay, see, that is a reunion I can get behind. It's an actual podcast thing. Their early stuff was brilliant. That's a real 'original cast' moment.
Nadia: Glad we found one you approve of. That's our show for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more from the world of podcasts.
Russ: Yep. In the meantime, go listen to an actual podcast, not just the idea of one. See you tomorrow.
This show is made with AI: the hosts’ voices are synthetic and the scripts are AI-assisted. Every story links to its original source.