Four-year-old online alt-news site rabble.ca has announced today that it is launching the rabble podcast network (rpn), a hub for independently produced, fully-Canadian audio programs covering subjects from books to technology to politics, among others. And they’re looking for brand sponsors.

‘[The podcasting network] gives advertisers the opportunity to reach rabble.ca visitors,’ says executive producer Wayne MacPhail. ‘It provides a multimedia buy because there’s also the opportunity to put video on the podcasts. And because it’s a subscription model, it targets a pre-qualified audience.’ MacPhail reports that the site attracts 300,000 unique visits per month with actual page views at approximately 3 million monthly. According to an online survey conducted in 2004, Rabble.ca attracts two demos: 25-38s and 41-50, skewing male.

In exchange for content, rpn’s publishing and hosting service invites podcasters to join the network in exchange for free hosting, bandwidth and promotion. Podcasters signed include broadcasters Nora Young and Cathi Bond, hip hop artist Jesse Dangerously and documentary filmmaker Velcrow Ripper. This is just a way for the news site to provide an alternative to traditional media, says rpn’s MacPhail.

The newly-launched network is hoping to get rabble.ca visitors to download the programs and foster discussion among members. Programs on rpn include nodcast, a series of stories for kids, flagship audio show Rabble Radio featuring upcoming Canadian artists, and The Sniffer, a tech-y trendwatch program.