Wondery may soon be taken over by Amazon
Internet giant Amazon announced the acquisition of Wondery, which is the largest podcast service. The platform will be presented on Amazon Music, but access for users will be on the same terms as before.
According to Amazon representatives, the deal will open up great opportunities for the development of Wondery. Together the companies will increase the platform’s popularity among the listeners, as well as attract more podcasting authors. In addition, the Internet corporation plans to pay special attention to filling it with high-quality content, expanding its topics so that every listener can find interesting and useful material.
Wondery was created in 2016 as a publisher of podcasts with an audience of 8 million users. Among independent platforms, it ranks first, and in the market of platforms for this content stands at the 6th position. According to an analysis by Podtrac, the number of downloads on Wondery exceeded 58 million, which includes both podcasts and streamers. The platform’s best-known products are “Dr. Death” and “Dirty John,” which have been listened to by users from many countries.
Before Amazon announced its intention to acquire the publisher, Wondery executives consulted financial analysts about the advisability of selling the project. First and foremost, they wanted to drum up interest from potential buyers, which include technology and media companies. Information regarding the amount of the deal with Amazon has not yet been disclosed, but experts estimate Wondery at $200 million or more. Some analysts say the platform could get twice that amount, and then the deal will be the biggest in the podcasting segment.
Last year, the publisher’s revenue exceeded $40 million and is up 75% over 2019. Some sources also say that the publisher has received a purchase offer from other interested companies.
The podcasting segment has been extremely popular lately, with various companies actively developing this area. Therefore, the acquisition of Wondery would be interesting both for record labels and large TV networks. The platform has a huge number of podcasts, which could potentially become a successful series.
The founder of Wondery is Hernan Lopez, who previously held an executive position in television. Advertising for various shows and other products is the platform’s main source of revenue. In addition, Wondery is planning to produce a number of its own shows and is already working on several projects. Not so long ago, the platform launched a special application, which provides users with various shows before they are released on other services for a monthly subscription. In addition, the new platform offers subscribers a lot of interesting and unique content.