NEW YORK • Apple wants to take a bigger bite of the market, with plans to fund original podcasts that would be exclusive to its audio service and keep competitors Spotify and Stitcher at bay.
Executives have reached out to media companies to discuss buying exclusive rights to podcasts, according to sources.
Apple all but invented the podcasting business with the creation of a network that collects thousands of podcasts from across the Internet in a feed on people's phones, smartwatches and computers.
The Apple Podcast app still accounts for anywhere from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of listening for most podcasts, according to industry executives.
After years without making substantial changes to its podcasting business, which first launched in 2005, Apple has recently focused on upgrading its app and added new tools for podcast makers.
Still, new entrants have encroached on Apple's once indomitable position, attracting new users by offering exclusive access to original podcasts.
"You are nowhere in podcasting if you don't have shows listed in Apple podcasts," said Mr Lex Friedman, chief revenue officer of Art19, which provides services to podcast producers such as Wondery Media and Tribune.
But given all the recent activity by its competition, "it would surprise me if Apple didn't do anything with exclusives".
Spotify, already Apple's largest rival in paid music streaming, has acquired podcast companies. It has also funded original shows from comedienne Amy Schumer, journalist Jemele Hill and hip-hop artist Joe Budden.
Earlier this year, it announced a deal to host podcasts from a company founded by former United States president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
These moves have established Spotify as the clear No. 2 player in podcasting, according to industry executives.
Other companies, including IHeartMedia, Stitcher, Pandora and Luminary, have also devoted more resources to the medium.
Apple is in the midst of building a suite of media services across audio and video that tether people to its phones and other devices.
Podcasting is still a small business compared with music or TV.
But advertising sales have expanded 65 per cent a year for the past three years, according to the IAB, while the number of monthly listeners to podcasts has doubled over the past five years.
Still, Apple does not make its own money off the Podcasts app.
It does not charge for the software or run its own advertising.
However, growing the Podcasts app and adding exclusives could give some consumers another reason to stick to their iPhone or subscribe to complementary paid services like Apple Music.
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