Goalhanger brings ad sales and sponsorship in-house

Goalhanger, the producer behind The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is History, is building an in-house advertising sales operation covering audio, video, social, newsletters, live events and branded content, moving away from deals assembled by external agencies. The move lands on the back of £38 million in 2025 sales and a stated track toward one billion full-episode views and streams in 2026. Director of commercial operations Josh Akers framed it as control: "We've been building out our in-house commercial capabilities across partnerships, delivery and creative production... to give us greater ownership of our revenue, building closer relationships with our media agency and client partners." Head of partnerships Charlotte Robbins stressed the talent angle: "Brands come to us not just to access our audience, but because of the way we work with our hosts... Our hosts only want to work with brands they genuinely like." Former WME executive Tom Miceli has joined as head of IP development, signalling a push beyond advertising into formats and licensing.

The crux

a podcast network with genuine scale is verticalising its sales because it now has the audience and the host relationships to command premium direct partnerships rather than paying agency margin.

Sell-side read

the in-house move is a template for any audio or creator-led publisher whose talent is the moat; direct sales capture the margin that programmatic and agency deals leave on the table.

Watch

whether Goalhanger's in-house team starts taking on sponsorship for third-party shows, which would turn it from buyer of sales services into a sales house.