Audily merges with production broadcast studio

The following excerpt was sent out from The Hollywood Reporter:

Rococo Punch, the independent podcast production studio behind The Turning series and Welcome to Provincetown, is merging with the full-service podcast and audiobook company Audily.

Led by co-founders and public radio veterans Jessica Alpert and John Perotti, Rococo Punch will continue as a stand-alone brand within Audily. The studio will continue to develop original productions and contract with other media companies for work-for-hire projects. RPLabs, which has created educational audio programming for partners like Boston University and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, will also continue within the Rococo Punch brand.

Alpert and Perotti will continue to lead Rococo Punch and report to Matt Wells, the co-founder and president of Audily, as part of the acquisition. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal comes as podcast studios look to build back momentum during a slower market and major audio companies like Spotify become more judicious with content spending.

Alpert, formerly a managing producer at Boston’s WBUR, said Rococo Punch has been “working toward this moment” and that Audily will give the studio the “fuel” to “create even more value in the space.” “We’re two companies with incredibly talented teams, and together we can build an even stronger foundation that allows for creative innovation,” Alpert said.

Perotti, who serves as Rococo Punch’s chief content officer, pointed to the “constantly shifting” audio market as one of the key reasons for the studio to join Audily, which launched in 2022 under the firm nth Venture and, like other nth Venture studio companies, is owned by its employees. “When two independents come together, we can do much bigger things,” Perotti said. “Rococo Punch’s thoughtful storytelling will continue to be the focus of our work.”