Amazon-owned Audible.com looks to be moving further into the world of podcasting with the hiring of the former vice president of programing for NPR, Eric Nuzum. He’ll be coming on as senior vice president of original content for Audible.
Nuzum was responsible for finding and developing new shows for NPR, including Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me, TED Radio Hour and the recently introduced Invisibilia. He also led the network’s podcasting initiatives as part of his 19-year career in public radio.
Very excited to announce that I will be joining @audible_com as SVP of Original Content. Leaving NPR & public radio, my home since I was 19.
— Eric Nuzum (@ericnuzum) May 15, 2015
According to a memo posted by Poynter, Nuzum was “recently part of the major, cross-functional team that has put NPR on track to serve more than one billion podcast downloads in 2015.”
Audible has not announced any specific programs that Nuzum will oversee, but comedian Michael Ian Black hosted the episodic How To Be Amazing show for the audiobook powerhouse earlier this year. The interview series is available through the Audible app for 99-cents per episode, making it one of the few podcasts that people had to pay for. However, the Public Radio Exchange is releasing it for free as a standard podcast later this year through iTunes.
Amazon has already experienced success with original video content for its Amazon Prime members, and a Serial-style success may lead to an even larger growth in membership subscriptions to Audible. Podcasting has been gaining a lot of attention lately, with the success of shows including Serial and StartUp, both of which were created by public radio veterans. Podcast network Radiotopia is also getting $1 million from the Knight Foundation to expand its network.
