More and more people are watching video podcasts, and Wondery is evolving the way that they watch.
In the wake of outlets like YouTube announcing massive podcast viewership to the tune of 1 billion monthly viewers for its content globally, Amazon-owned podcast and publisher network Wondery is revealing its strategy for moving the medium forward—as well as its ad opportunities.
Among its recent updates, Wondery has been building out free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels on Amazon’s Prime Video Live TV, formerly Freevee, as well as on YouTube. The company announced the channels on Prime Video in October 2023, which were created out of some of their popular podcasts from the Exhibit C lineup, which includes Dr. Death and Morbid.
In addition, following a beta-testing period, Wondery has launched eight of its most popular podcasts—including Baby, This is Keke Palmer and New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce—as video programs for Wondery+ subscribers on the Wondery app.
Neel Ketkar, Wondery’s head of product, said, despite being in the early stages, he’s happy with the progress the network has made with the app.
“We’re at a half dozen shows you can either watch in video format or switch to audio format and switch seamlessly between the two,” Ketkar told ADWEEK. “The mission of our app is to be the best place to discover and enjoy Wondery content. We’re not expecting everybody to flock to it. People are going to watch and listen on their preferred services. But if you’re a super fan of Wondery—or of our content—we want to make sure to offer that as well.”
And all that content is resulting in new opportunities for both Wondery and advertisers.
Wondering about ad opportunities
According to Wondery, the company has been able to sell advertising on its FAST channels to offer targeted opportunities to marketers beyond the usual programmatic ads, and it has aspirations of interactive shoppable ads ahead.
Meanwhile, YouTube is presenting a whole slew of possibilities.
Ketkar said Wondery has about 20 million followers across its network on YouTube, and the company has been able to pull its partner shows and original shows together to distribute and monetize the content. It is also looking at a subscription model with YouTube that enables viewers to watch bonus content from their favorite podcasts.