Acast has hired its first programmatic director for Europe, Middle East and Africa as it prepares for a push into programmatic ad sales next year.
The world’s biggest podcast company said it has run successful trials of programmatic ad sales in the UK, US and Australia over the past year in response to a growing industry demand to buy podcast ads programmatically.
It follows Acast’s decision last month to open up its podcast-hosting platform to content creators of any size through a new, entry-level Acast Open service. Programmatic advertising would enable brands to reach audiences across multiple podcasts by buying against demographics, for example, instead of buying ads on individual podcasts.
Michael Bayston (pictured, left) was most recently programmatic account director for western Europe at the BBC and has also worked at Viacom and News Corp in a 17-year career with broadcasting networks.
At Acast, Bayston will be responsible for leading programmatic advertising across Acast’s global network and help to align this with automated buying strategies by brands and media agencies.
Joe Copeman, global senior vice-president of sales at Acast, said: "Michael is here to lead us into the future of automated media buying.
"He'll ensure Acast continues to revolutionise and evolve, cementing our place as the leading global marketplace for podcasts with host-read, airtime and programmatic advertising available in every corner of the world."
