We can all see where the podcasting industry is going, and it’s likely going to get down to another big three.
On its support website, podcast app Stitcher has announced that it will be shutting down. According to its parent company, Sirius XM, the company is “focused on incorporating podcasts into its flagship SiriusXM subscription business. Subscribers can listen to podcasts within the SiriusXM app and will see an all-new listening experience later this year.”
In addition to accessing podcasts that were on Stitcher in the Sirius XM app, listeners can obviously access plenty of podcasts that were on Stitcher on a number of other podcast platforms. For those who want to keep listening on Stitcher, Sirius XM says that the service will still be available on the web and on the app until it officially shuts down on August 29, 2023.
SiriusXM, the owner of Stitcher, is focused on incorporating podcasts into its flagship SiriusXM subscription business. Subscribers can listen to podcasts within the SiriusXM app and will see an all-new listening experience later this year.
The shutting down of Stitcher means that podcast listeners will have one less option for where they want to enjoy their podcasts. This industry has certainly matured in recent years and, after seeing it grow up, it does feel that what is happening with Stitcher will happen with other smaller podcast apps as well.
In fact, it’s starting to feel that the podcast industry, at least when it comes to apps, is starting to consolidate itself into three apps from three big companies: Apple, Spotify, and Google. It’s easy to see that the most common apps used to listen to podcasts is now the Apple Podcasts and Spotify app. And, with Google recently adding podcasts to YouTube Music, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google shoot up in terms of market share here either.
Is that good for the podcasting industry? We’ll have to wait and see. But, if competition is good, consolidation is bad.