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 18: Ashley Carman points out in her newsletter that the New Heights podcast (Taylor’s version) featured not a single host-read ad. Of course, when Amazon’s Wondery fired 110 people earlier this month, it was video that was apparently to blame.
- Aug 15: Billboard reports record numbers for Taylor Swift’s appearance on New Heights. The outlet reports 9mn views on YouTube in the first twelve hours, and some data from Spotify - a “2,500% increase” in average streams, and female listeners up by 618%. However, in what might be a missed opportunity for podcasting, the ART19-hosted podcast from Wondery hasn’t published any data about podcast downloads, leaving the press to just report on video.
- 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.
Data credits: Podnews newsletter