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Today, Europe’s biggest independent podcast company Novel — the UK-based studio behind an array of acclaimed, award-winning and globally chart-topping podcasts for partners including Spotify, Audible, iHeart, and the Premier League — shares a bevy of announcements, including deepening its relationship with UTA, which has brokered many of its recent deals, as the company looks to expand further into the US, secure new partners, independently develop and distribute new shows, and compete with some of the world’s largest podcast content creators. Though Novel already has a robust presence in the US market, with more than half of its revenue coming from American sources, these new deals and hirings indicate big things to come for the upstart company.
“Novel is a leader in the international marketplace and their premium, wildly popular content has found audiences worldwide,” said Oren Rosenbaum, Head of UTA Audio. “As we’ve been working with this incredible studio, we saw an opportunity to expand their presence in the US and globally in a robust way that will feel fresh to partners and audiences.”
As part of its pursuit of top-level podcast industry talent, Novel has announced several new hires, including Austin Mitchell as Creative Director, Production (formerly of New York Times’ The Daily), Mythili Rao as Managing Editor (formerly of The Guardian’s Today In Focus), and new Head Of Marketing and Communications Indira Birnie (formerly of Penguin Random House). These three are among 45+ new staff Novel has added in the past year to meet the demands of its ambitious repertoire of content planned throughout 2022 and beyond.
“We’re thrilled about all of our plans for 2022 and beyond,” says Novel founder Sean Glynn. “While we’ve experienced phenomenal organic growth from six employees to over 45 in the past two years, UTA have helped us open up doors that we’ve always wanted to go through. We’ve made it a priority to bring in top talent, and we look to continue developing ambitious, compelling shows that speak to listeners around the world."
Says Managing Director Matt O’Mara: “We’ve created a robust slate of over 90 shows that have made people stand up and take notice of what we’re doing. We have a real firm belief in TV- and newspaper-level journalistic development that stands apart from the rest of the market, and, with UTA and so many great new hires on our side, we are prepared to make significant strides in the next year."
Today, Novel also launches an all-new brand identity and website created by the Berlin-based design studio HelloMe, which has worked with innovative brands including Nike, Red Bull, Warp, and many more. Visit Novel’s new website here.
Read about Novel’s new UTA deal, hirings, slate deals, and more at Deadline.
From top to bottom: Austin Mitchell, Mythili Rao, Indira Birnie
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