Amazon Acquired Podcast Network ‘Wondery’ for an Undisclosed Amount
Last updated September 24, 2021
- Amazon bought Wondery, the exclusive podcast show creator established in 2016.
- The tech giant is going to undertake the setting of a new business course, so Wondery’s CEO is out.
- Amazon wants to strengthen its position against competing services that offer podcasts, like Spotify.
Tech and e-commerce giant Amazon has bought ‘Wondery’, the relatively young yet very successful podcast network that was valuated at $300 million. The deal announcement doesn’t disclose the acquisition price, so this part remains shady. There has been some speculation developing in the last couple of weeks, as rumors about Wondery being up for sale spread prolifically, and Amazon is now sealing it. Since the start of the month, leaks suggested that the two were in negotiations, so that has been confirmed too.
Wondery will now become a part of Amazon Music, bringing in its amazing podcast collection. Examples include the true-crime-themed “Dirty John”, medical malpractice-focused “Dr. Death”, “Business Wars”, “American History Tellers”, and radio drama “Blood Ties”. In general, Wondery comes to fit perfectly in Amazon Music’s portfolio, complementing it very nicely. Obviously, Amazon Music wants to compete with platforms that have been offering podcasts for a while now, like Spotify.
As for content planning, we expect that Amazon will put some funding on the creation of more exclusive shows by Wondery. It has also become known by now that the CEO and founder of Wondery, Hernan Lopez, will leave once the deal is finalized, so Amazon will take over the aspect of business strategy in full. Potentially, we may even see an “opening” approach evolving Wondery to a platform that will invite many new creators and radio hosts in, but this is pure speculation at this point.
Wondery is a splendid example of what happens when you focus on rising platforms like the mobile space, as it grew exponentially since its launch back in 2016. The quality of the content and the curation of the shows definitely played a crucial role, but as we saw in the case of Quibi, timing is everything.
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