Wondery
Ad sales and monetisation · Listening apps · Production studios
The World’s Most Listened to and Beloved Podcast Company
Website: wondery.com
Owned by: Amazon
About Wondery
Wondery is a podcast studio known for character-driven, binge-worthy stories including Dr. Death, British Scandal, Even the Rich, and Business Wars, and hit partner shows like Armchair Expert, How I Built This, and New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. Over 55 original shows from Wondery have hit No. 1 on Apple Podcasts, including Scamfluencers, Ghost Story, and Hysterical. Wondery is the industry leader in adapting podcasts for scripted television or streaming series, including Dr. Death and Joe vs Carole on Peacock, The Shrink Next Door and WeCrashed on Apple TV+, and American Sports Story and Dying for Sex on FX. Wondery has gained critical acclaim and commercial success for its immersive approach to sonic, emotionally driven storytelling. The Wondery app offers a unique, personalized podcast listening experience, including access to its premium ad-free offering Wondery+. With Wondery+, fans experience early access, exclusive episodes, and ad-free listening.
Latest news
- Aug 12: Finally! Wondery show New Heights will finally get Taylor Swift as a special guest in tomorrow’s episode - it’s Taylor’s first interview since 2023. Is it a declaration of love? Or is it also an opportunity to promote a new album?
- Aug 8: Steve Boom of Amazon doesn’t want us to think that the Wondery reorg is anything to worry about for the industry at large. “Podcasting at an industry level is doing incredibly well, and I think it’s doing really, really well here too,” he tells The Ankler in an interview today. He also suggests that narrative shows are “monetized better [when] supported by a premium revenue stream” - by which he means subscriptions - “rather than purely an ads revenue stream”. Boom also spoke with Variety, where he claimed an “acceleration of video podcasting is really what prompted this restructuring.”
- Aug 7: One show is from Wondery, which announced 110 layoffs earlier this week.
- Aug 6: Amazon have asked us to clarify details about the new team looking after ads and monetisation for Wondery and Amazon Music, sending us the internal memo explaining it all. We said yesterday that the existing Wondery advertising unit would “merge with” Amazon Music’s advertising unit - but for clarification, these teams are both creating an entirely new business unit. By merging together, yes, but it’s a new business unit, reporting straight to Steve Boom, and we’re happy to make that clear.
- Aug 5: One of the biggest and most successful podcast producers, Wondery, is to be restructured by Amazon, laying off a reported 110 people including the company’s CEO, Jen Sargent. Wondery was bought by Amazon at the end of 2020 for $300mn, then doubled its staff. It currently has around 360 published shows.
Data credits: Podnews newsletter