Amazon is shuttering its Wondery podcast studio and merging its remaining operations into the Audible unit to bolster its competitive stance against dominant platforms like Spotify and YouTube (GOOG), according to a Bloomberg-reviewed memo.
The restructuring will eliminate 110 Wondery jobs, including that of CEO Jen Sargent.
In the memo, Steve Boom, Amazon’s vice president of audio, Twitch, and games, noted, “The podcast landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years, with video’s rise blurring the lines of what defines a podcast creator.”
Per an unnamed Bloomberg source, Wondery’s advertising and sponsorship teams will transition into a new group handling similar deals for Amazon Music, while the Wondery+ app will persist for the “foreseeable future.”
Acquired by Amazon in 2020, Wondery operated independently with its own subscription app, featuring high-profile talent like LeBron James, Jason and Travis Kelce, Monica Lewinsky, and Keke Palmer, and hosting popular podcasts such as Morbid (now with Sirius XM), Dr. Death, and American Scandal.
These shows will either move to Audible or be managed by Amazon’s “creator services” team.