Last April, during a hot market for audio, Facebook launched Live Audio Rooms, short-form stories called Soundbites and podcasts for U.S.
But nowadays, the company is emphasizing other initiatives in conversations with podcast partners, including events in the metaverse and online shopping, according to industry executives who work with the platform.
Facebook’s waning interest in podcasting is a disappointment for some in the growing industry because the scale of its platform offers a large potential audience, and with it, the possibility of more advertising revenue.
A spokesperson for Facebook said the company is still working on podcasts even as it’s accelerating work on priority features like Reels and Feed.
It did so during a moment of audio mania last year, when the live audio platform Clubhouse was valued at $4 billion and every tech company wanted to copy its product.
To break into the space, the company also explored starting a training program to bring creators onto the platform.
At the same time, some initial Live Audio Rooms partners are no longer hosting conversations, and their deals were not re-upped.
The network added podcast content to Facebook in September and since then, the platform has contributed “hundreds of thousands of additional monthly listens,” according to Chief Marketing Officer Praveen Singh.
Follow HT Tech for the latest tech news and reviews , also keep up with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.