Hernán López, head of the on demand audio network Wondery, strives to expand the podcast industry. López told PRODU that 80% of all smartphones reach the entire planet and 50% of the population has a smartphone. This is something that never happened with TV, with radio, he mentioned. He highlighted that in the US only, people listen to three and a half hours of audio per day. It is second after video and most of this audio material is music. There is great potential in audio, but there isnt a platform for content aggregation of this sort. There is great potential to turn this means into something very sophisticated, he commented.He added that the audio business represents around $26 billion per year (including radio, music, podcasts and audiobooks).López stated that a great deal of quality podcast content is available. He thinks that in four months they could be launching the platform. At first it will be in English and free. There are plans for an eventual launching in Spanish and at a further stage it will be supported by advertising. The target of Wondery is anyone with a smartphone. This Wondery content can be accessed through the podcast apps in iPhone or Android. Soon I will disclose the name of my partner in the project.
