Amazon is a many-sided powerhouse ecosystem with gigantic consumer reach, so it’s not a surprise that the company is reportedly planning podcasting initiatives on several fronts. According to reports circulating today from Ad Exchanger, Axios, Good E Reader, and Bloomberg, the potential departmental pushes into podcasting are Audioble.com, Amazon Music, and Alexa.
Audible Originals is not a new initiative, but it is becoming clearer that the leading audiobook market is willing to spend substantially on a library of exclusive-to-Audible listening content. Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart are two names that represent Audible’s interest in prominent talent. Ad Exchanger quotes a source saying that Amazon wants people to listen to podcasts on Audible, which isn’t happening now. Audible really doesn’t have any familiar podcast presentation mechanisms in place. Our speculation is that Audible might stretch the definition and conception of podcasting. Ad Exchanger also says that Audible might make some content free, breaking its core model as an audio product store — if so, it would no doubt be a robust competitor to Luminary, which engages prominent podcast talent for its subscription service.
Axios is exclusively reporting that Amazon is interested in localized audio content for Alexa, which makes perfect sense. The behemoth is reportedly investing in local podcast networks. “It wants to explore short-form audio content that can be surfaced when users ask Alexa for information about topics like news and sports,” Axios reports.