Amazon is gutting its Wondery podcast studio

Amazon is splitting up its Wondery podcast workplace conscionable 4 years aft acquiring it, as archetypal reported by Bloomberg. As portion of the change, the workplace volition shed astir 110 employees, portion Wondery CEO Jen Sargent volition permission the company.

In a connection to The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Alice Zhou confirmed that portion Wondery volition proceed to nutrient podcasts, its narrative-driven studio, which has developed shows similar Dr. Death, American Scandal, and Business Wars, volition merge with Amazon’s Audible team.

Its celebrity-hosted shows, specified as New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce, LeBron James’ Mind the Game, and Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert, volition articulation a caller “creator services” squad that volition absorption connected “selling ample sponsorships,” according to Bloomberg. Some of these shows volition support the Wondery branding, portion the Wondery Plus app volition besides stay disposable aft the shuffle, according to Bloomberg.

“The podcast scenery has evolved importantly successful the past fewer years, peculiarly with the emergence of video-forward, creator-led content,” Zhou said. “These changes bespeak that improvement and volition streamline however Wondery integrates further into Amazon.” Zhou added that “many” of the Wondery employees impacted by the studio’s divided moved to “other parts of Amazon.”

Amazon closed its $300 cardinal deal to get Wondery in 2021. Over the past fewer years, the podcast manufacture has undergone a displacement to video that has helped marque YouTube the astir fashionable level for podcasts. Wondery laid disconnected a “small number” of employees earlier this year, portion immoderate of its flagship podcasts, such arsenic SmartLess and Morbid, person near for SiriusXM.