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For a lot of people, Amazon is a really convenient online source for things like golf balls and dental floss.
But over the past couple of years, Amazon has also become a media company — and it’s a pretty big one at that.
Under its Amazon Studios banner, the company has launched a ton of original TV shows. Some, like “Transparent,” have become hits. Others — like "Mad Dogs" — not quite as successful. A movie division has also been started, with plans to distribute up to 12 films a year theatrically, and then on Amazon’s streaming service.
Now the company is betting on podcasts, or what it likes to call “digital short-form audio.” Amazon’s Audible business — popular for selling audio books — now has a platform called Channels that hosts podcasts.
So far, Channels has just six shows, but 40 are expected by the end of the year. The service is free with a $14.95-a-month Audible membership, or $4.95 a month on its own.
For more on this we reached out to Joshua Brustein, he’s a technology reporter for Bloomberg Business.