Amazon Echo Dot Speaker
CNBC | Richard Washington
Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring the podcast company Wondery, expanding its catalog with original audio content.
As part of the deal, Wondery will join Amazon Music, the e-commerce giant’s music streaming industry. Amazon Music added podcasts to its platform in September and wanted to cut out part of the increasingly competitive podcasting market in which Spotify, Apple and other field won.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment. Wondery declined to comment.
Founded in 2016, Wondery has been producing some of the most popular podcasts in recent years, including true crime series such as’ Dirty John ‘,’ Dr. Death ‘and’ Over My Dead Body ‘. The producer and network of podcasts says that it counts more than 10 million unique listeners every month.
Speculation of the deal has been underway since earlier this month, when The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was in talks about acquiring the podcast. Bloomberg reported in September that Wondery was investigating a sale.
The deal comes at a time when Spotify, Apple and others are continuing to dominate the podcasting market. Amazon, Apple and Spotify have all tried to add podcasts to their streaming services, as the medium has become the most popular way to listen to music and this enables them to differentiate their services from original podcasts.
Spotify has invested heavily in producing original podcasts, including a recent agreement with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle. It also acquired four companies to expand its library, including The Ringer, Gimlet Media, Anchor and Parcast. Meanwhile, Apple has slowly expanded its original podcast efforts and installed its Podcast app on iPhones as standard.
Amazon has a foothold in audio content outside of Amazon Music. The company also owns Audible, which offers audiobooks and podcasts. The service has expanded its original audio content over the past few years, as well as the free podcasts, including popular shows “This American Life”, “Pod Save America” and “You’re Wrong About”.