Amazon is splitting up its Wondery podcast studio simply 4 years after buying it, as first reported by Bloomberg. As a part of the change, the studio will shed round 110 staff, whereas Wondery CEO Jen Sargent will depart the corporate.
In an announcement to The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Alice Zhou confirmed that whereas Wondery will proceed to supply podcasts, its narrative-driven studio, which has developed exhibits like Dr. Loss of life, American Scandal, and Enterprise Wars, will merge with Amazon’s Audible workforce.
Its celebrity-hosted exhibits, such as New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce, LeBron James’ Thoughts the Recreation, and Dax Shepard’s Armchair Professional, will be a part of a brand new “creator companies” workforce that may concentrate on “promoting giant sponsorships,” in line with Bloomberg. A few of these exhibits will preserve the Wondery branding, whereas the Wondery Plus app can even stay out there after the shuffle, in line with Bloomberg.
“The podcast panorama has developed considerably up to now few years, notably with the rise of video-forward, creator-led content material,” Zhou mentioned. “These modifications mirror that evolution and can streamline how Wondery integrates additional into Amazon.” Zhou added that “many” of the Wondery staff impacted by the studio’s cut up moved to “different components of Amazon.”