Wondery CEO Jen Sargent is leaving the company as it undergoes a wider restructuring and driving video.
Podcasting Company was acquired by Amazon in 2021 and will move its narrative podcast studio, which includes American Scandal Dr. Death and Business Warto hear the sound, you will also see Wonder’s chief content officer Marshall Lewy join Audible’s content team. Teams led by Wonder's creators, video-centric podcasts, such as New heights and Armchair expert We will join Amazon's talent services team to form a new organization called Creator Services.
According to people familiar with the matter, about 110 people were fired as part of the restructuring.
The internal memo for Audio, Twitch and Games vice president Steve Boom said the podcast under the Creator Services team will continue to run the studio as the Wondery brand and will “work with featured top creators to drive a zoomed audience and unlock broader, longer-lasting relationships across Amazon.” Matt Sandler will lead the team.
LeBron James and his podcast, Mind the gameThe blueprint of such an effort launched in April is seen as the blueprint, as his podcast's audio and video series are distributed in playbacks including Prime Video, Amazon Music, Fire TV channels and Echo devices, and James is also a spokesperson for Prime Day.
“The podcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years. As video podcasting has grown in popularity, we have learned that creator-led, video-integrated shows have different audience needs and require distinct discovery, growth and monetization strategies compared to audio-first, narrative series. The rise of video has also blurred the lines on what it means to be a podcast creator,” the memo reads.
Sargent
“Due to all these changes, Jen Sargent will continue to seek new opportunities, but will help us through this transition,” the memo stated.
Additionally, the company is creating a new team responsible for sponsored advertising on Wondery and Amazon Music led by Angie More. Amy Grabisch and her team (creative monetization of live shows for Amazon Music) will also move to the team.
“The podcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years, especially as videos move forward, with the rise of creator-led content. These changes reflect this change and will further integrate simplified miracles into Amazon. By making these changes, we can better support creators, thus making their content across multiple channels, thus making their brands more integrated, and gradually building this information in these processes, making them more integrated with advertising and more integrated in these processes. In Wonder’s early success, you can perform and target videos to better serve creators, customers and advertisers,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
This change also happened when Wondery saw its two big shows, Sick and No clevernessmove to Siriusxm.