Moona Kärkkäinen is the CEO of Suomen Podcastmedia, one of Finland’s leading commercial podcast companies. She works at the intersection of content, commercial strategy and audience growth, helping creators and brands build sustainable podcast businesses while driving the development of Finland’s podcast industry. She is particularly interested in the future of video podcasts, branded content and cross-border collaboration within the European podcast ecosystem.
You can connect with Moona on LinkedIn here.
What’s your podcast origin story?
I’ve been working in media and digital business for most of my career, but podcasting felt different from the very beginning. It combined long-form storytelling with the authenticity of creator-led media, while still feeling like an industry that was only scratching the surface of its potential.
When I joined Suomen Podcastmedia, podcasting in Finland was already established, but I saw a huge opportunity to professionalise the commercial side of the industry. Today I lead the company as CEO, and our work ranges from producing original shows and branded podcasts to helping independent creators build sustainable businesses around their content.
What excites me most is that podcasting has evolved from an audio format into a true multi-platform media business. Great podcasts now live simultaneously across audio platforms, YouTube and social media, reaching audiences in completely new ways.
Give us an overview of Finland’s podcasting industry from its beginnings and what stage it’s at currently. Is it growing? Is it stagnating?
Finland was relatively quick to embrace podcast listening, but for many years the industry remained fairly small and fragmented. Public broadcasters, radio companies and a handful of independent creators laid the foundation, but monetisation opportunities were limited and the market remained niche.
Over the past few years, the industry has evolved rapidly. Subscription platforms such as Podimo and Podme have invested heavily in premium local content, bringing more professional production and commercial opportunities into the market. At the same time, video has become an increasingly important part of podcasting. Many of Finland’s most successful podcasts actually originated with YouTube creators, meaning that video wasn’t something added later, but it has been part of their content strategy from the beginning. Today, YouTube plays a crucial role in both discovery and audience growth, while short-form clips on social media help podcasts reach entirely new audiences.
We’re also seeing advertisers become much more sophisticated in how they view podcast audiences and host-read advertising, recognising the trust and engagement the medium creates.
I wouldn’t describe the Finnish market as mature yet. Audio listening may have reached a more stable phase, but podcasting as a whole is still growing. The boundaries between podcasts, video content and creator media continue to blur, creating new opportunities for creators, media companies and advertisers alike.
What role does Suomen Podcastmedia play in Finland’s podcasting market? What gaps are you looking to fill?
Suomen Podcastmedia is one of Finland’s largest commercial podcast companies, but our ambition has always been broader than production alone.
We’re focused on building sustainable businesses around podcasts. That means producing original shows and branded podcasts, helping independent creators commercialise their content, and making it easier for advertisers to access podcast audiences in meaningful ways.
One of the biggest opportunities we see is helping brands understand that they don’t necessarily need to launch their own podcast to benefit from the medium. Sponsorships, host-read campaigns and creative partnerships with established shows or well-known talents can often deliver stronger results. At the same time, for organisations that do have a story worth telling over the long term, branded podcasts can become a powerful content engine and thought leadership platform.
We’re also working to make podcast advertising more accessible by connecting advertisers with independent creators through network-based sales models, allowing campaigns to scale across multiple shows while still feeling authentic to each audience.
Finally, we’re passionate about bringing successful international podcast concepts to Finland and, just as importantly, helping Finnish ideas and formats find audiences beyond our borders.
Ultimately, I think podcasting works best when everyone benefits: creators can build sustainable businesses, brands can reach highly engaged audiences, and listeners continue to get high-quality content. That’s the ecosystem we’re trying to help build in Finland.
How is Finland’s cross-border collaboration in the Nordic region? How about at the European level?
Cross-border collaboration is becoming more common, but I wouldn’t say it’s the norm yet. Much of our own international collaboration comes through being part of PodX Group, which allows us to exchange ideas, formats and expertise with our sister companies across the world.
Sweden has naturally been our closest partner. We’ve had the opportunity to adapt the successful Swedish concept of Fördomspodden for Finnish audiences (Finnish version Ennakkoluulolla). These projects demonstrate that great podcast formats can travel when they’re thoughtfully localised rather than simply translated.
We’re also seeing more collaboration beyond the Nordics. Projects like Murder in Åland (co-produced with our British sister company Goldhawk Productions) and 28 päivää (adapted from the British format 28ish Days Later) show how stories, formats and production expertise can travel across borders while remaining locally relevant.
Looking ahead, I’d love to see more European co-productions, format adaptations and knowledge sharing. Europe has an incredible diversity of stories, and podcasting is one of the best ways to bring them to new audiences.
What do you predict the future of European podcasting will look like?
I think Europe is entering a very exciting phase. Podcasting is no longer just an audio business, but it’s becoming an ecosystem of formats, platforms and business models.
We’ll see much more collaboration across borders, not necessarily through direct translations, but through adapting successful formats for local audiences. Europe has an enormous amount of creative IP that can travel surprisingly well when it’s thoughtfully localised.
At the same time, new formats are emerging. Micro-dramas and short-form narrative podcasts are attracting new audiences, while publishers and traditional media companies are increasingly partnering with podcast creators to extend the reach of existing journalism and content across different platforms.
Video will continue to reshape the industry, also commercially. Today, much of podcast advertising is still bought as audio, even though millions of people consume podcasts on YouTube and other video platforms. As measurement and monetisation improve, I expect brands to think about podcast campaigns much more holistically, combining audio, video, social media and creator partnerships.
The biggest podcasts will increasingly become media brands rather than simply shows. They’ll expand into live events, merchandise, newsletters and entirely new content formats. Also in Finland, podcasts have begun appearing at major music festivals through live recordings or organise their own live shows. Following the rise of video and increasingly professional production, I think we’ll continue to see podcasts move beyond headphones and become part of our TV screens, streaming platforms and live entertainment experiences.
Rather than simply following American trends, Europe has the opportunity to build something distinct; combining high-quality storytelling with strong local voices and formats that can be adapted across markets. I think the future isn’t about creating big podcasts for all of Europe, but about sharing ideas, formats and expertise while keeping each market locally relevant.
Share a couple of Finnish podcast recommendations with us: one popular show and one that you think deserves more love.
One of Finland’s most successful podcasts is Sijoituskästi. What started as an investing podcast has grown into one of the country’s leading business and finance media brands, proving that podcasts can build highly engaged communities around specialist topics—not just entertainment. It’s a great example of how expertise, consistency and authenticity can create long-term audience loyalty.
A show I’d love to see reach an even wider audience is Ennakkoluulolla. Based on the Swedish format Fördomspodden, each episode invites a well-known guest to react to prejudices about them. It’s funny, surprising and often reveals sides of the guest that rarely come across in traditional interviews. The first season has been a great success, reaching the top podcast charts in Finland, and I think it demonstrates how strong podcast formats can successfully travel across borders while still feeling completely local.
Thank you, Moona!
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