Amazon shuts down Wondery podcast studio, cuts 110 jobs

Amazon is shutting down its Wondery podcast studio, acquired in late 2020, and cutting 110 jobs as part of a broad reorganization of its audio business, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The company plans to move existing Wondery series under its Audible banner or to a new ‘creator services’ team, which will house personality-driven shows, such as Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast.

“The podcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years,” Steve Boom, Amazon’s vice president of audio, Twitch, and games, wrote in a staff memo seen by Bloomberg. “The rise of video has also blurred the lines on what it means to be a podcast creator.”

The story notes that the changes indicate that Amazon’s push into podcasts hasn’t gone as planned. Despite securing big names in the business, the company is now shifting its strategy in an effort to better compete with rivals like Spotify and YouTube as the podcasting industry embraces video formats.