By India McCarty
As the world of podcasting gets more crowded, Amazon will trim back; the company just announced that its podcasting division, Wondery, will be consolidated into the Amazon-owned Audible.
“This was definitely a strategic decision,” Steve Boom, Amazon’s VP of audio, Twitch and games, told Variety. “As we’ve seen how the market has evolved and how we need to best organize to address the market opportunity where we’re seeing the most success, it became pretty apparent to us over the last several months. This acceleration of video podcasting is really what prompted this restructuring.”
Boom explained that this move came after reviewing Wondery’s output and noticing a trend. Podcasts fell into one of two categories: narrative-driven and personality-centric. Narrative titles were “deeply reported” shows focused on specific topics like true crime, pop culture or history, while personality-centric shows featured celebrity hosts, like actor Dax Shepard’s ARMCHAIR EXPERT or NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce’s NEW HEIGHTS.
These kinds of shows are typically driven by video content as well, with audiences tuning in to see their favorite stars.
“We’ve learned over time that the business models for these two different types of content are actually quite different,” Boom said. “On the one hand, the video-creator podcasts are monetizing incredibly well through advertising. It’s a very, very strong advertising business. In contrast, with the narrative podcasts, we’ve come to the conclusion that those are best monetized through a premium business model.”
He continued, “And it turns out that we have in Amazon the leading company in the world in premium spoken word modernization. So we decided that if the best business model [for narrative shows] is premium, then it makes sense to bring these two things into one place where we can actually monetize them appropriately.”
Of course, this shift doesn’t come without some shake-ups. Bloomberg reported that, as part of this reorganization, “about 110 people will lose their jobs…according to a person familiar with the plans.”
“Existing Wondery series will either be moved under Amazon’s Audible banner or become part of the company’s new ‘creator services’ team, which will become home to personality-driven shows, including Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast,” Bloomberg continued. “The Wondery brand will still exist on some of these creator services-run shows.”
#Wondery CEO Jen Sargent is exiting as #Amazon restructures the studio, affecting around 110 jobs. Narrative podcasts move to Audible, while a new team will handle creator-led shows. https://t.co/TIWl7ZEBfT
Related: YouTube Dominates Competition with 1 Billion Monthly Podcast Listeners
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) August 4, 2025
Video content is also changing the podcast landscape, and many are struggling to keep up with YouTube, which has become a major leader in podcast streaming.
“YouTube is the elephant in every room, I think,” Josh Lindgren, head of CAA’s podcast department, told The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone’s thinking about video podcasting. And people are responding in different ways.”
As the podcasting industry continues to grow, companies like Amazon will have to be quick on their feet to keep up with the changes.
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