Last month, Bloomberg News reported that both Apple and Sony Music Entertainment held talks about acquiring Wondery, but it’s Jeff Bezos’ Amazon that ended up taking the podcasting company.
Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it would acquire podcast startup Wondery, aiming to beef up non-musical content on its Amazon Music app.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that the firms were in deal talks, pegging Wondery at a valuation of more than $300 million.
Wondery, which houses popular podcasts like “Dirty John,” “Dr. Death,” and “Business Wars,” has about 20 million monthly unique listeners, according to a Variety report.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple is smart to not overpay from something they can match, and eclipse, on their own. Without Apple, there is no “podcasting.”
Of note, in 2017, Apple bought Pop Up Archive, a startup that built technology to improve searching for podcasts. Earlier this year, Apple bought Scout FM, a podcasting service that turns shows into radio-like stations.
I guess it’s a good abandonment.
Good evening, Mr. Dingler