New York-based audio company Realm, best known for its adult-skewing fiction podcasts, has acquired Pinna to get into the kids & family part of this market. 

Pinna targets three- to 12-year-olds and has more than 150 original titles on its platform, including popular original series such as Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest and Opal Watson: Private Eye, as well as songs, audiobooks, interactive audio games and licensed podcasts.  

Realm is eager to make a big entrance in the kids audio space. It has signed a deal to handle ad sales for kids podcast companies Rebel Girls (Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls) and GoKidGo (R.L. Stine’s Story Club); all tolled, Realm will have more than 375 hours of kids content to present to advertisers. 

Realm also has plans to launch a studio that’s dedicated to producing kids and family titles. The Pinna platform will keep its own website and digital presence, and Realm will market the service to expand reach.  

“There is untapped potential in kids audio—a nascent, fast-growing, evergreen market,” said Realm co-founder and CEO Molly Barton in a release. “We see the acquisition of Pinna as a first meaningful step in our commitment to this category, and our new partnerships with Rebel Girls and GoKidGo will fuel our collective success.”

Maggie McGuire is out as CEO of Pinna, and will serve as an advisor to the newly combined company. Realm is making a handful of executive shifts within its own ranks to handle the growth. It has promoted John Brooks, who joined Realm in December 2022 and was previously a manager at Warner Bros. Animation, to head of content. And Nicole Kreuter moves up from managing studio operations to a new head of network position.