"We are proud to offer original content from our talented creators to South Africa, where podcast listenership continues to rapidly grow," says Luminary CEO Simon Sutton. "With talented hosts like Trevor Noah, Celeste Barber and Russell Brand, the Luminary network is offering quality content that we know listeners will want to hear."

"We are particularly proud to bring Trevor Noah's show to his home in South Africa, where there has been high demand for access to his important and insightful conversations," saysMatt Sacks, Luminary founder and executive chairperson.

Luminary's launch in South Africa is part of an international expansion that includes Ireland and New Zealand. The expansion doubles the number of international locations where Luminary is offered, which is currently Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

According to the brand, each of the three countries included in the expansion have shown strong growth in podcast listenership, with more than 4 million monthly podcast listeners across the three countries based on estimates from Reuters.

The podcast service says that South Africa, in particular, is an exciting new market for Luminary, as there has been high demand from listeners for The Trevor Noah Podcast and other original shows.

Luminary offers all listeners a seven-day free trial of Luminary Premium. After the free trial, the price in South Africa will be R34.99 per month for a monthly subscription. Alternatively, the service offers a rate of R249.99 per year for an annual subscription. Subscribers will have access to nearly 40 original podcasts.

Since launching ten months ago, Luminary reports that its podcast content has had a "strong and positive reaction from critics and listeners". Luminary creators were recently honoured with 2019 Podcast of the Year Awards from AdWeek and named as having the Best Podcasts and Best Podcast Episodes lists in 2019 by:
  • The Atlantic
  • Time
  • The New Yorker
  • The Guardian
  • Marie Claire
  • IndieWire
  • O The Oprah Magazine
  • Esquire
  • Vulture
  • The AV Club, and
  • Good Housekeeping.
This global expansion follows the appointment of Simon Sutton — the former president and chief revenue officer of HBO — at Luminary as its CEO, as well as Richard Plepler — the former CEO and chairperson of HBO — who will join Luminary's board of directors.

Sutton and Plepler will bring their deep expertise of quality content from HBO, Plepler's Eden Productions and its exclusive partnership with Apple TV+. The team at Luminary says that these moves are part of Luminary's continued growth and evolution in this dynamic market. 

Luminary subscribers will have access to the following shows:

New seasons debuting on Luminary in 2020
  • The Trevor Noah Podcast
  • Celeste & Her Best, with Celeste Barber
  • The C-Word, with Lena Dunham and Alissa Bennett
  • Tabloid, from New York Magazine
  • Snap Judgment presents Spooked
  • Karamo
  • Fiasco
  • Wisdom from the Top, with Guy Raz
  • Love + Radio
  • The AM Archives
  • Stoop Talks
  • The Black List Podcast
  • Lies We Tell
  • Corner Wolves
  • Murder on the Towpath, with Soledad O’Brien
Podcasts in Luminary's catalog that are available in 2020
  • Under the Skin with Russell Brand
  • I AM RAPAPORT STEREO PODCAST
  • LGBTQ&A
  • Note to Self
  • Guys We F*cked
  • Hear to Slay
  • History on Fire
  • The Trip
  • Metaphysical Milkshake with Rainn Wilson and Reza Aslan
  • Food Actually with Tamar Adler
  • Vocal Point with Martina McBride
  • Making a Killing with Bethany McLean
  • Anthem: Homunculus
  • The Rewatchables '99 from The Ringer
  • Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99 from The Ringer
  • Frontier Tween from Team Coco
  • Hyper-Thetical
  • Players Tribune: The Podcast
  • Poetics with Omari Hardwick
  • Sincerely X from TED
  • Smartr from Team Coco
  • Sonic Boom: How Seattle Lost Its Team from The Ringer
  • The Ten
For more information, visit www.luminarypodcasts.com You can also follow Luminary on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.