And comic will make a show for the platform when it launches

John Bishop has invested in a new podcast network to be run by a team of former BBC employees.

The comedian will also host a show when the platform launches with his friend Tony Pitts, the former Emmerdale actor who has also appeared in Rogue One and Line Of Duty, and wrote Funny Girl, which starred Maxine Peake as a  northern English housewife who became a stand-up.

Crowd Network, of which Bishop is a director, has also secured £500,000 in seed funding from investment capitalists Enigma Holdings, and chosen Manchester to be its HQ.

Chief executive Mike Carr, former editor of BBC Radio Sport, said: ‘The best podcasts create communities and become a place where listeners feel they belong. That is what we will strive to do with every single podcast on our slate.

‘Our vision is to be Europe’s largest audio-on-demand network. The UK podcast market is playing catch-up with the US, but we have a plan to blaze a trail and close that gap. Podcasts are on cusp of moving from a niche to a mass-market channel and we aim to be at the vanguard as that transition takes place.’

Carr will run the company with former BBC producer Steve Jones, former BBC sports writer Tom Fordyce, and former BBC rugby union producer Louise Gwilliam.

The company will be up against global players like Swedish firm Acast, which doubled its income to £31million last year.

It claimed 1.9 billion listens in 2019, but has yet to make a profit.

Published: 1 Sep 2020