Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is axing a small portion of its original podcast programming slate — canceling 11 out of approximately 500 current shows — as it looks to concentrate firepower on the biggest original and exclusive hits.
The 11 shows come from Parcast and Gimlet, two podcast studios that Spotify acquired in early 2019 as part of its buying binge in entering the space.
The cutbacks will affect about 5% of Spotify’s total podcast staff, some of whom will be laid off while others will be reassigned to other teams, according to a source familiar with the change.
No shows at Spotify Studios or the Ringer are being axed. The shows being canceled are: from Gimlet, “How to Save a Planet,” “Crime Show” and “Every Little Thing”; and from Parcast, “Medical Murders,” “Female Criminals,” “Crimes of Passion,” “Dictators,” “Mythology,” “Haunted Places,” “Urban Legends” and “Horoscope Today.” Each of the podcasts will wind down over the next several months; “Horoscope Today” will extend into the second quarter of 2023, the source said.
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