The Amazon news this week - that it’s dissolving the Wondery name and dividing its audio business into two parts - reflects in many ways where podcasting is today.
In one camp - the audio storytellers.
In another camp - the video-driven creators.
Sounds like the podcast industry right now, doesn’t it?
Lots of major corporations are trimming payroll right now. So I wasn’t totally shocked when I read the reporting by Lucas Shaw and Ashley Carman at Bloomberg. As I mentioned in a column just a few weeks ago, there’s a ton of uncertainty out there with the U.S. economy.
As a journalist who’s worked at Bloomberg TV & Radio, MarketWatch, and The Wall Street Journal, I’ve also seen this Broadway show before. Major corporations buy companies, absorb top talent and products, and then eventually retire the name.
This happens in the tech sector especially:
Oracle buys Sun Microsystems and sunsets the name
Yahoo buys Broadcast.com from Mark Cuban and discontinues it eventually
Microsoft buys Hotmail and folds it into Outlook
Microsoft buys Skype and shuts it down
In many ways, this is a coming of age moment for podcasting. It’s hit the big time. As a mass medium, it’s all grown up now. A big bad tech company has just killed an industry darling and a major hit maker.
So let’s cherish the good ole days for Wondery - like this blast from the past below. For some reason, I saved this ad from a holiday gift guide in the Baltimore Sun in November, 2020.
Finally… a personal note.
Like so many in our industry, the Wondery news hit me hard this week and brought back memories from almost a decade ago. I still fondly recall when Wondery founder Hernan Lopez came to visit me at The Wall Street Journal in New York.
We sat in the Bryant Park conference room on the sixth floor at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. He wanted to collaborate and develop audio content for WSJ. I was all ears and needed the support.
Unfortunately, for him, we were also talking to Gimlet at the time - another name now resting in the dustbin of history. We were discussing launching a new daily podcast.
Eventually that podcast would become The Journal.
EDITOR’S NOTE Heading to Dallas for Podcast Movement? Let’s connect. I’m there August 18 thru August 21. I’m appearing on one panel with Airwave Media founder Ben Mathis called Podcasters and Networks: Leveling the Playing Field. Then I’m moderating another panel called Secrets to YouTube Success. I gathered some all-stars so you’ll hear from Neha Taleja from YouTube, Stephen Robles from Riverside, Chris Colbert from DCP Entertainment, and Jay Nachlis from Coleman Insights.
John Wordock runs his own podcast and media consulting firm John Wordock Media. He served as Executive Editor and SVP for Podcasting at Westwood One from 2019 to 2024, helping build Cumulus Podcast Network into a top ten network and top channel on Apple. He also served as Executive Producer for Podcasts at The Wall Street Journal until 2019. He started podcasting back in 2006. Wanna talk? Email John@JohnWordockMedia.com.