Amazon has acquired Wondery, Bloomberg reports. Wondery is a start-up and production company behind numerous podcasts. A source from The Wall Street Journal states that the purchase price is around $ 300 million.
Wondery is producer of more than a hundred different podcasts, as can be seen on his website. The company has been around since 2016 and not only distributes its podcasts through well-known channels such as Spotify, but also has its own service, called Wondery +, which consists of its own app and certain exclusive podcasts. Wondery is the number four largest podcast publisher in the US, according to Podtrac. Amazon is silent about the takeover amount mentioned by the WSJ.
The usually well-informed Bloomberg states that Sony and Apple would also have listened to a takeover of the podcast company. The podcast market seems to be gaining in popularity. This applies to consumers, including tech companies involved in making and distributing them. Recently, Spotify took over Megaphone, The Ringer and The Joe Rogan Podcast, for example. Apple bought Scout FM earlier this year. Amazon entered the podcast market in September.
Update, 11:57 AM: the previous version of this article stated that the deal was not yet closed, but it is. The article has been adapted accordingly.