Bauer Media Audio expands audioXi reach with TuneIn in three markets

Bauer Media Audio announced November 6, 2025, a direct reseller agreement with TuneIn that expands its digital audio advertising network, audioXi, into Poland, Slovakia, and Portugal. The partnership unlocks millions of additional monthly ad impressions across TuneIn's live audio portfolio.

audioXi operates as one of Europe's leading digital audio marketplaces, connecting advertisers with premium inventory across digital radio, podcasts, and streaming services, according to Bauer Media Audio. The platform enables brands to execute highly targeted, data-driven campaigns by leveraging Bauer's extensive first-party data and trusted publishing environments.

The agreement marks audioXi's first direct commercial arrangement with TuneIn outside of its existing content distribution deal. Moving to a direct partnership brings greater efficiency, transparency, and flexibility in buying and selling ad space, according to the announcement.

The expansion immediately delivers scale by adding incremental unique users and substantial monthly available ad impressions across the three territories. This strengthens Bauer's digital audio footprint for both global and local advertisers by increasing reach and unlocking more opportunities for targeted campaigns.

"Partnering directly with TuneIn allows us to strengthen our digital audio offering and provide advertisers with more transparent, flexible, and impactful ways to connect with audiences," said Rob Timony, Senior Vice President, Commercial Advisory at Bauer Media Audio. "This move underlines our focus on delivering high-quality inventory at scale across Europe, ensuring campaigns are both efficient and engaging."

Josh Rothman, President of Global Advertising Revenue at TuneIn, said: "Bauer Media Audio is a key strategic partner to support our continued growth across Europe. Selling our inventory directly through audioXi makes it easier for advertisers to reach TuneIn listeners and strengthens our position in markets where we are growing quickly. Advertisers can now access our inventory and run highly targeted campaigns backed by Bauer's first-party data."

The partnership builds on audioXi's strategy of scaling premium audio inventory while enhancing platform partnerships. TuneIn offers a wide variety of content, including live radio, sports, podcasts, audiobooks, and music, making it a powerful environment for advertisers seeking reach and engagement.

European digital audio market context

The partnership arrives as digital audio advertising achieved €1.05 billion in European spending during 2024, crossing the billion-euro milestone for the first time, according to IAB Europe's 2024 AdEx Benchmark Report.

Digital audio continues to face an investment gap despite growing consumption. Audio accounts for 31% of consumers' total media time but receives only 9% of advertising budgets, creating a 22% gap that represents substantial untapped potential for marketers, according to AdsWizz data from July 2025.

The programmatic audio advertising landscape has experienced accelerated adoption throughout 2025. Amazon DSP integrated SiriusXM Media inventory in September 2025, providing advertisers with programmatic access to 160 million monthly digital listeners through automated buying interfaces.

StackAdapt announced November 10, 2025, an integration with iHeartMedia that brings broadcast radio inventory directly to advertisers through programmatic channels, enabling marketers to plan, forecast, purchase, measure, and report on AM/FM broadcast alongside digital audio, streaming, and podcast inventory within a single platform.

TuneIn's advertising trajectory

TuneIn has expanded its monetization capabilities significantly over recent years. The platform partnered with Triton Digital in July 2021 to monetize its audio with Triton Digital's advertising technology, while iHeartMedia's 850 digital stations became available in TuneIn.

In February 2024, TuneIn Radio generated an estimated $3 million in open programmatic advertising revenue in North America, according to Pixalate's Global Top Grossing Mobile Apps Report. The platform followed closely behind Kik messaging app in mobile ad revenue generation.

TuneIn also expanded its in-vehicle entertainment options through a partnership with Great Wall Motors in June 2024, integrating its library of over 100,000 radio stations, 5 million podcasts, and 100,000 audiobooks into select car models in Europe and Australia. The platform maintains over 75 million monthly active users and partnerships with 14 automotive brands.

Poland market dynamics

The Polish market presents particular opportunities for digital audio expansion. Poland demonstrated strong programmatic expansion, suggesting that less mature markets offer greater programmatic adoption opportunities, according to IAB Europe's 2024 AdEx Benchmark Report.

Amazon DSP launched multi-country in-market audience support across 32 markets on November 4, 2025, including Poland, enabling consistent targeting definitions across markets. The geographic expansion spans four continents with coverage across developed and emerging advertising markets.

Poland's television landscape includes strong public broadcasting through Telewizja Polska, commercial networks like Polsat and TVN, and specialty networks. Streaming captured 10.1% of total television viewing time in July 2025, marking a historic milestone, though the figure remains substantially below streaming penetration rates observed in other international markets.

Technical implementation

The direct partnership eliminates intermediary layers in the advertising supply chain, enabling more efficient transactions between advertisers and premium audio inventory. Advertisers working with audioXi can now reach a greater number of digital audio listeners across a wider range of formats and content types within TuneIn's vast portfolio.

Bauer Media Audio reaches over 61 million listeners every week across nine countries, including the UK, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Portugal. The company operates as Europe's leading commercial radio operator and one of Europe's largest digital audio operators.

The platform's data-driven audio solutions drive action and build deeper relationships between brands and listeners through a trusted portfolio of premium radio brands, streaming platforms, podcasts, and social media. Through audioXi, advertisers can leverage Bauer's extensive first-party data in brand-safe environments.

Self-serve platforms expansion

The audioXi-TuneIn partnership aligns with broader industry trends toward self-serve advertising platforms. Triton Digital announced AdBuilder AI on October 30, 2025, a self-serve platform designed to help audio publishers expand their revenue by unlocking access to small and mid-sized business advertisers.

Self-serve advertising platforms have proliferated across digital media channels as technology vendors seek to reduce operational friction for smaller advertisers. Audio advertising has lagged behind display and video formats in self-serve adoption, partly due to creative production complexity.

Podcast advertising spending surged 26% year-over-year in Q3 2025, with the Gaming industry posting the strongest growth among major advertising categories, climbing 59% compared to the previous year, according to Magellan AI's Q3 2025 Podcast Advertising Benchmark Report released November 4, 2025.

The findings show podcast advertising continues expanding despite broader digital advertising market challenges, with nearly 1,700 new brands testing the channel each quarter. The 26% year-over-year growth rate significantly exceeds typical digital advertising growth rates, suggesting podcasts capture increasing share of audio advertising budgets.

Timeline

• July 2021: TuneIn partners with Triton Digital for audio monetization and gains access to iHeartMedia's 850 digital stations
• February 2024: TuneIn Radio generates estimated $3 million in programmatic ad revenue in North America
• June 2024: TuneIn expands in-vehicle entertainment through Great Wall Motors partnership in Europe and Australia
• May 2025: Digital audio advertising achieves €1.05 billion in European spending for 2024
• July 2025: Audio advertising market shows 22% engagement gap between consumer time and advertiser investment
• September 2025: Amazon DSP and SiriusXM expand programmatic audio reach through strategic integration
• October 2025: Triton Digital launches AdBuilder AI with self-serve capabilities
• November 4, 2025: Amazon DSP expands in-market audiences to 32 countries including Poland
• November 6, 2025: Bauer Media Audio announces audioXi expansion with TuneIn in Poland, Slovakia, and Portugal
• November 10, 2025: StackAdapt integrates iHeartMedia broadcast radio into programmatic platform

Summary

Who: Bauer Media Audio, Europe's leading commercial radio operator reaching over 61 million listeners weekly across nine countries, partnered with TuneIn, a global live audio platform with over 75 million monthly active users. Key executives include Rob Timony, Senior Vice President of Commercial Advisory at Bauer Media Audio, and Josh Rothman, President of Global Advertising Revenue at TuneIn.

What: A direct reseller agreement that expands audioXi's digital audio advertising network to include TuneIn's inventory across Poland, Slovakia, and Portugal. The partnership unlocks millions of additional monthly ad impressions across TuneIn's portfolio of live radio, sports, podcasts, audiobooks, and music. This marks audioXi's first direct commercial arrangement with TuneIn outside of existing content distribution deals.

When: Bauer Media Audio announced the partnership on November 6, 2025. The agreement immediately delivers scale by adding incremental unique users and substantial monthly available ad impressions across the three territories.

Where: The expansion covers three European markets: Poland, Slovakia, and Portugal. The partnership operates through audioXi's digital audio advertising exchange, which already serves as one of Europe's leading digital audio marketplaces. Advertisers can access TuneIn's diverse content portfolio across multiple formats and devices.

Why: The direct partnership brings greater efficiency, transparency, and flexibility in buying and selling ad space compared to previous indirect arrangements. The expansion strengthens Bauer's digital audio footprint and addresses the persistent gap between audio consumption (31% of consumers' total media time) and advertising investment (9% of budgets). By moving to a direct partnership, advertisers can leverage Bauer's first-party data to run highly targeted campaigns while reaching engaged digital audio listeners more effectively across key European territories where both companies see growth opportunities.