The brand for Wondery is displayed on a smartphone in an organized {photograph} taken within the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Amazon is terminating some positions in its Wondery podcast division and the top of the group is leaving as a part of a broader reshuffling of the corporate’s audio unit.
In a Monday word to staffers, Steve Increase, Amazon’s vice chairman of audio, Twitch and video games, mentioned the corporate is consolidating some Wondery items underneath its Audible audiobook and podcasting division. Wondery CEO Jen Sargent can be stepping down from her function, Increase mentioned.
“These modifications won’t solely higher align our groups as they work to reap the benefits of the strategic alternatives forward however, much more crucially, will guarantee now we have the appropriate construction in place to ship the easiest expertise to creators, prospects and advertisers,” Increase wrote within the memo, which was considered by CNBC. “Sadly, these modifications additionally embrace some function reductions, and now we have notified these workers this morning.”
About 110 workers might be let go because of the transfer, in keeping with Bloomberg, which was first to report on the layoffs. Amazon declined to touch upon the size of the job cuts.
The transfer comes practically 5 years after Amazon acquired Wondery as a part of a push to broaden its catalog of authentic audio content material. The podcasting firm made a reputation for itself with hit exhibits like “Soiled John” and “Dr. Dying.”
Extra not too long ago, Wondery signed a number of profitable licensing offers with Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, together with Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Professional.”
Amazon is streamlining “how Wondery additional integrates” into the corporate by separating the groups that oversee its narrative podcasts from these growing “creator-led exhibits,” Increase wrote.
The narrative podcasting unit will consolidate underneath Audible, and creator-led content material will transfer to a brand new unit inside Increase’s group in Amazon referred to as “creator companies,” he wrote.
Amazon’s audio pursuits face a heightened problem from the rising reputation of video podcasts on Alphabet‘s YouTube, which now hosts an growing variety of exhibits.
Video exhibits require completely different discovery, development and monetization methods than “audio-first, narrative collection,” Increase wrote within the memo to Amazon staffers.
“The podcast panorama has advanced considerably over the previous few years,” Increase mentioned.