Tumblr's parent company buys podcast app Pocket Casts

Automattic, which runs Tumblr and WordPress, is buying a popular podcast app -- Pocket Casts -- from a collective of public radio groups, including NPR and BBC Studios.

  Automattic didn't disclose how much it will pay for Pocket Casts.

 "As part of Automattic, Pocket Casts will continue to provide you with the features needed to enjoy your favourite podcasts (or find something new)," a WordPress.com blog post stated.

 "We will explore building deep integrations with WordPress.com and Pocket Casts, making it easier to distribute and listen to podcasts," it added.

 The co-founders, Russell Ivanovic and Philip Simpson, will remain in charge of the Pocket Casts team. It seems Automattic is already thinking about ways of incorporating the multi-platform app into its blogging tools, TechCrunch reported.

 With built-in features like variable speed playback, trim silence option, volume boost, a sleep timer, personal media storage and standalone playback for Apple Watch, Pocket Casts delivers a streamlined and customsed listening experience that users love, the blog post reads.

 Both blogs and podcasts use RSS feeds for distribution, so integrating the two platforms makes sense, the report said.

 Earlier this year, Spotify-owned Anchor had teamed up with WordPress.com to turn written material into podcasts via text-to-speech tech, it added.