Sources: Apple is seeking an executive to lead its original podcasts effort and is acquiring podcasts that would tie into shows on its TV+ service
but not only TV shows. Story with @markgurman https://www.bloomberg.com/... James Cridland / @jamescridland : Just read a hand-wringing article desperately worried that the open ecosystem of podcasting is under threat by Spotify. The open ecosystem that Apple has 70% control of? That kills ideas that Apple don't want to implement? That open ecosystem? Or one that's actually “open”? 🤔 Ryan Glasspiegel / @sportsrapport : Tuesday: Spotify gets Joe Rogan exclusivity Thursday: Apple suddenly cares about podcast business https://www.bloomberg.com/... Nolan Monaghan / @nolan_monaghan : Please dont turn my favorite media into the streaming wars we have now 😭 https://twitter.com/... Tarun Gangwani / @tarungangwani : Wonder if Spotify will snatch the market right out under from Apple, who was previously poised to dominate this space. Meanwhile, OG podcast lovers lose as these systems close off and become riddled with ads. Big money is winning. https://twitter.com/... Hank Green / @hankgreen : Sources: Uuuugggghhhh https://twitter.com/... @mikerugnetta : I am reminded of the time in Atlantic City, when a parade of my friends failed to go longer than 5 or so seconds on the mechanical bull, tho each after the first had watched all the others flail and topple. https://twitter.com/... M.G. Siegler / @mgsiegler : https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Zac Hall / @apollozac : I have a pitch. It's a sort of documentary show based on @9to5mac https://twitter.com/... @mattnavarra : Apple vs. Spotify... Fight!! 🔔 🥊 https://www.bloomberg.com/... @kerrymflynn : cc Spotify https://twitter.com/... Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Story with @Lucas_Shaw: Apple is ramping up push into original podcasts by seeking leader for initiative and has begun buying two types of exclusive shows: spinoffs of TV+ content and podcasts that could eventually become TV+ shows. https://www.bloomberg.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the execution phase of a move Apple flagged nearly a year earlier, when it said it would fund original, exclusive podcasts and approached media companies about supply. What changed by May 2020 is structure: instead of just commissioning shows, Apple is reportedly hunting for a dedicated executive and buying podcasts designed to feed its TV+ pipeline in both directions — spinoffs of existing shows and podcasts that could become them.
First-order effects
- Spotify's Joe Rogan exclusivity deal landed Tuesday; Apple's response surfaced Thursday, so the named players are now bidding against each other for exclusive talent rather than coexisting in one open directory.
- Amazon enters the frame simultaneously: Audible's reported talks to acquire celebrity podcasts mean all three platform giants are chasing the same finite pool of proven hosts at once.
Second-order effects
- The two-way TV+ linkage changes what podcast IP is worth — a show is no longer priced on audience alone but on adaptation potential, which favors studios and celebrity talent over independent producers.
- Independent podcasters who rely on Apple's directory distribution face a platform whose incentives shift toward gated, owned content — the 'open ecosystem' critique James Cridland raises about Apple's ~70% share of podcast listening gets sharper as Apple competes with the catalog it hosts.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds through Apple's later Futuro Studios first-look deal, podcasts become development inventory for streaming video — audio as the cheap pilot stage of a vertically integrated content factory across Apple, Spotify, and Amazon.
- Podcasting splits structurally into a licensed-open tier and an exclusive-originals tier, with platform control of distribution deciding who can monetize which tier.
The trend: Streaming platforms are converting podcasting from an open distribution network into a battleground for exclusive, cross-format intellectual property.