Interview with Amazon - Mr Boom7 Aug 2025 14:30
Https://theankler.com/p/amazon-audio-chief-on-wondery-20
Narrative Podcasts “We have found that these are monetized better [when] supported by a premium revenue stream rather than purely an ads revenue stream,” he says — meaning subscriptions. To date, Amazon has been investing in making original narrative podcasts with both Audible ($8 a month, or $15 for the premium plan) and Wondery, which operates the much smaller Wondery+ subscription business ($5 a month). “It made sense for them to become part of Audible, which is a premium business, versus trying to run them as a standalone ads-only business,” Boom adds.
Creator-Hosted Podcasts Because these are recorded as videos, they can be marketed on TikTok, Reels and Shorts in a way that “creates a flywheel effect, and it’s done a nice job of extending the audiences,” says Boom. “As a result, it’s become a very, very strong advertising business model, particularly around sponsorships.” He adds that by moving these shows under a new division within Amazon, they will better be able to take advantage of the company’s e-commerce and studio arms. “That’s really interesting for us, but it’s also really interesting for the creators themselves. In fact, for a lot of them, that’s one of the reasons they want to do business with Amazon in the first place.”
No one I spoke with for this story believes Amazon’s reorg signals a larger contraction in the industry, even though it comes just a month after another major player, Pineapple Street Studios, shut down and laid off its 30 or so employees.
“Podcasting at an industry level is doing incredibly well, and I think it’s doing really, really well here too,” says Boom. A second podcast executive concurs, saying the space is “doing better now this year than it has in the last two or three years.” So what gives? “Audio is not the future,” this executive notes. “Video is here to stay and video is different from traditional podcasting from a monetization perspective, from a creator perspective and from a production perspective.”
One top industry dealmaker tells me that in the last six months or so, more of his clients are coming to new podcast projects convinced they need to have a video component. “It used to be a lot more of a push-and-pull type conversation,” he says, explaining that talent would complain about the work involved with producing video. Now they’re realizing that work can introduce their shows to a whole new audience. “The willingness to do video has definitely increased.”
But the dealmaker doesn’t hear a death knell for audio-only. “People still really enjoy audio podcasts,” this person says. “Most consumers of podcasts have a bit of each in their diet. When I’m in the car, I want audio only. If I’m at home or at work, I might throw on a video podcast in the background.”
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