The podcasts Blood Ties, Jacked: Rose of the New Jack Sound, and Iowa Chapman and the Last Dog just got a little more multidimensional for Wondery+ subscribers. Starting today, those series will be available in Dolby Atmos, the surround format developed by Dolby Laboratories that adds spatial queues associated with height channels.
“Dolby Atmos elevates audio storytelling by immersing listeners into the story for a better listening experience,” says John Couling, Dolby’s senior vice president, entertainment.
Amazon-owned Wondery becomes the first podcast streaming platform in the United States to offer Dolby Atmos. The podcasts are available only through the ad-free subscription tier, Wondery+, which costs $5 a month or $35 a year.
Wondery says the weekly podcast series Against the Odds and upcoming miniseries will be available in Dolby Atmos in the coming months. Wondery is also working with two podcast platforms that support Dolby Atmos, Earshot (India) and Anghami (Middle East).
“The audio landscape is evolving quickly, and listeners are growing more accustomed to podcasts that push the limits of how stories are told,” says Marshall Lewy, Wondery’s chief content officer.
Wondery was purchased by Amazon in 2020, not long after its podcasts first appeared on Amazon Music. More than 15,000 podcast episodes are available on the Wondery app.
Author: Kevin Hunt
Kevin, a former consumer electronics columnist for The Chicago Tribune, writes about technology and health from his home on the Connecticut shoreline overlooking an osprey platform. Smart-home confession: He has two nightlights in his home connected to smart plugs.