Amazon in talks to buy podcast publisher Wondery: Report

San Francisco, Dec 3 (IANS) Amazon is reportedly in talks with podcast startup Wondery about a potential acquisition as the tech giant pushes further into the growing audio sector.The talks value Wondery at more than $300 million, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. Wondery's last funding round, in June 2019, valued the company at $100 million.The company is on track to increase revenue to more than $40 million this year, with about 75 per cent of that coming from advertising and the rest from licensing to TV, subscription services.Launched in 2016, Wondery has won audiences for shows such as Dr. Death, Dirty John, Business Wars, The Shrink Next Door, and Gladiator.Amazon has been steadily expanding into the audio sector, and earlier in 2020, its Amazon Music streaming service ranked third in subscriber counts behind Apple Music and Spotify.Wondery could be the final chance for a large company like Amazon to strengthen its position in the growing podcasting market through an acquisition.
--IANS wh/sdr/