Car manufacturer Acura has signed on as sponsor of National Public Radio's new podcast effort - which offers downloadable content available at NPR.org and local member stations' sites - and talks are underway with other national sponsors, reports Mediaweek (via MediaBuyerPlanner). American Public Media, Public Radio International, and individual non-commercial stations are contributing content for the podcasting effort.

NPR sources told Billboard Radio Monitor that the effort was designed to give individual stations the opportunity to offer podcast files from their own local websites, which would then serve as a gateway for users to have access to the entire collection of public radio podcasts on NPR.org.

In addition to national advertising opportunities, the effort raises the question of local sponsorships for individual public stations, as well. No such local sponsorships have as yet been announced, however, and it is unclear how these opportunities might be integrated into the overall public radio podcast project, Mediaweek writes.

This is the first time NPR has offered a comprehensive selection of its own content for download. NPR had a podcasting relationship with Audible.com that ended late last year.