Amazon to Acquire Wondery in Podcast Push

Technology

December 30th, 7:41pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: The Amazon logo at the company logistics center in Boves, France, August 8, 2018. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

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. Amazon is relatively a late entrant to the booming podcast space, a key area of focus for Spotify Technology, which has been investing in big names in an effort to become the Netflix of audio content. 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. Last month, Bloomberg News reported that both Apple Inc and Sony Music Entertainment have held talks about acquiring Wondery.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2712401/amazon-acquire-wondery-podcast-push