Amazon To Cut Wondery Staff, Reorganize Audio Business

Amazon.com Inc. is breaking up the operations of its Wondery podcast network as part of a broad reorganization of the business.

About 110 people will lose their jobs because of the move, according to a person familiar with the plans. In addition, Wondery Chief Executive Officer Jen Sargent will exit the company, according to a memo to staff viewed by Bloomberg News. 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. The Wondery brand will still exist on some of these creator services-run shows.

The moves are an acknowledgement that Amazon’s big push into podcasts hasn’t worked out as planned. Despite signing up some of the biggest names in the business, the online retailer is shifting strategies to compete better with platforms like Spotify Technology SA and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube as podcasts shift to video formats from audio-only.

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

The Wondery+ team will now report into Audible, the memo states. Wondery’s narrative-driven studio, which creates shows including the Dr. Death series, will merge with Audible, and Wondery Chief Content Officer Marshall Lewy will join Audible in a new role.

Meanwhile, Wondery’s tentpole shows with major talent, such as Dax Shepard, will start working with the creator services team — a move designed in part to do a better job of selling large sponsorships and integrations across the Amazon platform. The company has created a blueprint of sorts with LeBron James, who hosts a podcast, Mind the Game, and has worked as a Prime Day spokesperson, a role in which he promoted his line of male-grooming products.

Wondery’s advertising and sponsorships organization will form a new team that handles similar deals across Amazon Music and the creator-led programs. The Wondery+ app will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, said the person who asked not to be identified discussing nonpublic information.

“These changes will not only better align our teams as they work to take advantage of the strategic opportunities ahead but, even more crucially, will ensure we have the right structure in place to deliver the very best experience to creators, customers and advertisers,” Boom wrote.

In 2020, at the height of the podcast boom, Amazon purchased Wondery for roughly $300 million, according to media reports at the time. Amazon allowed Wondery to operate independently, running its own subscription app.

Lately, the podcast industry has been struggling to adapt to a video-first approach, driven by YouTube’s dominance of the medium, which rewards streamlined, personality-driven operations. In June, radio conglomerate Audacy shut down Pineapple Street Studios, its audio-centric podcast business.

Several of Wondery’s biggest shows have moved elsewhere. Sirius XM Holdings Inc. announced recently that it’s licensing Morbid, a popular true-crime program that had been a Wondery partner. Another former Wondery show, SmartLess, also now works with SiriusXM.