Next Audio, the podcast and digital audio advertising company behind the largest Arabic podcast advertising network in the world, has formalised its expansion into the Asia-Pacific region with the opening of a new office and appointment of Lea Simanungkalit as Commercial Lead, based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The move marks a significant milestone for the company, which has delivered over 850 campaigns across 90+ markets since its founding six years ago, and reflects growing advertiser demand for structured, measurable podcast advertising across Southeast Asia and the broader APAC region.

Lea Simanungkalit brings over a decade of experience in the digital advertising industry, with close to six years at Aleph supporting Spotify’s advertising business. She primarily managed the Indonesia market, while also contributing to regional initiatives across Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and South Korea. Her appointment strengthens NextAudio’s commercial presence in Southeast Asia, enabling the company to work more closely with advertisers and agency partners across one of the world’s fastest-growing digital audio markets.

Indonesia leads Asia-Pacific in podcast engagement, with 59% of consumers listening for at least one hour per week, a figure that outpaces the United States on the same metric (YouGov, 2025). The broader APAC podcasting market is growing at 21.25% CAGR through 2031, making it the fastest-growing podcasting region globally (Mordor Intelligence).

Lea Simanungkalit adds “Podcast listening across Asia-Pacific is among the highest in the world — YouGov research shows Indonesia, Thailand, and India all rank among the top markets globally for weekly podcast engagement, with a majority of consumers spending an hour or more listening each week. That level of sustained attention is rare in today’s fragmented media landscape, and it’s exactly why audio deserves a bigger seat at the table in campaign planning. Unlike passive scroll-based formats, podcast and streaming audio reach listeners in moments of genuine focus — commuting, working out, multitasking at home — where messages land with less competition for attention. For advertisers shaping their media mix, that combination of high engagement and low ad clutter is what makes Southeast Asia, and Indonesia specifically, one of the most compelling growth opportunities in audio right now.”

Central to Next Audio’s APAC strategy is its exclusive regional partnership with SiriusXM, through which it offers advertisers access to one of the world’s most recognised podcast networks including shows such as SmartLess, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Mel Robbins, Call Her Daddy, and School of Greatness, alongside its wider network of 55,000+ shows across 90+ markets.

The combination of global premium inventory and regional execution capability under a single managed service is a positioning Next Audio has already established in MENA, where it operates the largest Arabic podcast advertising network in the world.

Lemya Soltani, Next Audio co-founder, adds “Lea’s appointment and the deepening of our SiriusXM/ Adswizz partnership are the next step in a strategy we’ve executed since day one: pairing world-class global & local content with a genuinely local commercial team. That’s how we built the largest Arabic podcast advertising network in the world, and it’s the same playbook we’re now bringing to Asia-Pacific. What excites us about this region isn’t just the growth numbers, it’s the maturity of the advertiser conversation, brands here are asking sophisticated questions about measurement and attribution, and podcast audio is ready to answer them. Jakarta is our first APAC office, but it won’t be our last.”

Next Audio’s APAC offering covers managed & programmatic campaigns across Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Thailand, with full-service strategy, targeting, and IAB-compliant measurement included as standard.

For campaign enquiries in Asia-Pacific, contact lea@nextbroadcast.media.

For press enquiries, contact suzi@nextaud.io.

About Next Audio

Next Audio is a podcast and digital audio advertising company operating across MENA, Europe, LatAm, and Asia-Pacific. The company manages the largest Arabic podcast advertising network in the world and serves as the exclusive SiriusXM partner for MENA and APAC. Since founding, Next Audio has delivered 850+ campaigns across 90+ markets for 350+ active brand and agency clients.