Podcast big Wondery has employed Spotify‘s Chris Baughen, because it launches the paid-for Wondery+ service within the UK.
Baughen shall be Head of Podcasts, Wondery UK, and report into Wondery’s Head of Worldwide Podcast Content material, Jessica Radburn. Based mostly on London, he may have strategic oversight of the podcast agency’s slate of UK originals and can work with native expertise, producers and writers and diversify into new genres.
On Monday, April 29, Baughen will start his new submit, changing Wealthy Knight, who not too long ago left the corporate for BBC Studios.
He’s presently Head of Studios UK and Eire for Spotify, the place he has labored on titles reminiscent of The Louis Theroux Podcast, Parenting Hell, JaackMaate and The Receipts. He was additionally Head of Podcast Manufacturing at UK audio agency World and Managing Editor for the World Participant. At World he created and commissioned exhibits reminiscent of My Therapist Ghosted Me, Searching Ghislaine, The Wittering Whitehalls and Filthy Ritual.
Additional again, he was VP for Content material & Codecs at Deezer and Managing Editor of Radio X.
“On the subject of compelling, participating and immersive storytelling, Wondery are on the high of the tree,” stated Baughen. “To say I’m excited to be becoming a member of this unimaginable group could be an enormous understatement and I can’t wait to be a part of the subsequent chapter of their story.”
The information comes as Wondery launches its subscription Wondery+ service within the UK. It should price £5.99 ($7.50) or £44.99 a yr by way of the Wondery app or Apple Podcasts. The service is already provided in international locations outdoors the U.S. together with Germany, Brazil and Mexico.
The UK service will give subscribers early entry to podcasts and over 45,000 episodes ad-free, together with from Dr Loss of life, Scamfluencers and Enterprise Wars. Wondery’s UK podcasts embrace RedHanded, The Spy Who, Who Killed Daphne? and British Scandal, an Alice Levine and Matt Forde-presented program that’s in its fortieth season.
It has simply launched one other Levine-fronted pod, The Worth of Paradise, which debuted this week and is already primary on the Apple Podcast charts within the UK and quantity 5 within the U.S. The present follows the tumultuous real-life story of a lady who swaps her life in suburban Hampshire to purchase a personal island within the Caribbean.
At a launch occasion in London’s Soho yesterday, Wondery CEO Jen Sargent stated the corporate had reached “crucial mass” within the UK and was “the right time to launch this bespoke service.”
“It’s been superb to see podcasts develop exponentially over the past decade, and particularly listeners within the UK have tripled since we entered this market. That underlines our basic perception that podcasts are for everybody, all ages and life phases, and that’s why we’re actually attempting to broaden there forms of content material we convey to listeners.
She added Wondery was specializing in “all the pieces from comedy to sport to youngsters and household, enterprise, historical past and true crime podcasts to essentially serve all of the pursuits of our passionate listeners.”
As such, Wondery Chief Content material Officer Marshall Lewy revealed a primary sports-focused UK authentic, All the pieces to Play For, which is able to function tales of the largest battles in British sporting historical past and stars reminiscent of Wayne Rooney.
Wondery had six of the highest 25 podcasts of 2023, in accordance with Sargent. Strikingly, German interview podcast Kurt Krömer Emotions is the corporate’s high present globally. “It’s the largest Wondery present and it’s in German,” stated Sargent. “This simply speaks to the truth that producing native tales in native language with native companions working with these proficient native producers will not be solely one of the best inventive method to have interaction with listeners, it’s truly the suitable business technique, too.”
“As Wondery has launched in new markets around the globe, we have now performed a job in each the native and world progress of sonic storytelling and we’re collaborating with native companions and expertise the world over to essentially convey brilliantly-told, authentic tales to our listeners,” she added.
Wondery+ has been accessible within the U.S. since 2021.