In 2019, Apple was rumored to be working on original podcasts, funding a variety of projects in an effort to capitalize on the obviously booming market.
Here we are again, almost a year later, and Bloomberg is back with a new report, saying Apple is ramping up attention on producing original podcasts. The goal is to create great content, sure, but this latest report echoes what we heard earlier this year: that many of these original podcasts will be a means to help promote Apple TV+ content already available, including shows like The Morning Show, See, and others.
These podcasts would be exclusive on the Apple Podcasts platform. That’s a similar move to how Spotify is handling things. Remember that this week it was confirmed that the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience is becoming a Spotify exclusive later this year. So it certainly makes sense that Apple would be going down that route, too.
This report says that Apple will be focusing on “spinoffs” of current Apple TV series, and even some movies. (AÂ Greyound spinoff podcast would probably be pretty great.) At the same time, Apple is also looking to buy up original podcasts that can help boost its library, and is right now searching for an executive to lead its original podcast efforts.
When they find that person, they will be reporting to the company’s current head of podcasting, Ben Cave.
This is all very familiar and, at this point, it seems like it would be a shoe-in for some kind of official announcement later this year. But while the executive search might be holding things up a bit, it also sounds like Apple wants to have content ready to go right out of the gate. This isn’t like Apple TV+, where shows were already completed by the time Apple got around to launching the streaming service.
We’ll just have to wait and see how this all shakes out. Which of Apple’s original shows or films would you like to listen to a podcast about?