Four years after Amazon acquired podcast network Wondery, the tech giant is abandoning its $300 million purchase and reorganizing several audio properties into separate teams within the company. As previously reported BloombergAs a result of this restructuring, the studio will lose approximately 110 employees and CEO Jen Sargent will leave the company.
Amazon said Bloomberg They will continue to produce podcasts even if their position within the company is restructured. The most narrative podcasts from the Wondery brand, such as American scandal AND economic warwill merge with Amazon’s Audible team. Some of these podcasts will retain the Wondery branding and the Wondery Plus app will remain active. Subscribe ask yourself more Get early access to selected podcast episodes via the app. However, it is still unclear which features will remain in the app and which will be taken over by Audible.
At the same time, celebrity hosts are programs like that new heights with Jason and Travis Kelce and Armchair expert Along with Dax, Shepard will join a new team called Amazon Creator Services. That’s why BloombergOne of the main goals of this new team will be to sell key sponsorship contracts. These titles are part of a growing trend towards video podcasting, making YouTube the best platform for podcast consumption.
Steve Boom, VP of Audio, Twitch and Gaming at Amazon, analyzed the changes in a note (published by maturity) sent to Amazon partners. “The podcast landscape has evolved significantly in recent years. As video podcasts have become more popular, we’ve learned that creator-driven, video-embedded programs have different audience needs and require different strategies for discovery, growth and monetization than narrative series that emphasize audio,” he wrote.
However, Amazon spokeswoman Alice Zhou said employees were being laid off as some of the changes were announced on Monday. the edge that “many affected employees” would be moved to “other parts of Amazon.”