Sources: Amazon Making Play For Localized News, Sports Podcasts

Amazon is "looking to invest in localized podcast content, like news and sports," according to sources cited by Sara Fischer of AXIOS. Sports content is "top of mind" for Amazon as the company "plans to buy up more TV rights and have adjacent audio content for users." A source said that Amazon has "evaluated investing in localized sports podcast companies like Blue Wire." The e-commerce giant "wants to explore short-form audio content that can be surfaced when users ask Alexa for information about topics like news and sports." Meanwhile, Spotify's "big-time investments in an array of podcast companies (Anchor, Gimlet, Parcast, The Ringer, Joe Rogan) could help to centralize monetization for the genre, growing podcast revenue as a whole faster." While Apple "still has the largest portion of podcast listeners, it hasn't indicated much interest in becoming a centralized player in podcast monetization" (AXIOS.com, 5/26).