NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Audible Inc., the world’s largest seller and producer of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word entertainment, today announced the launch of Channels, an unlimited, advertising-free on-demand listening service featuring a consistently refreshed and thoughtfully organized collection of original programming and exclusive content including cutting-edge episodic programs, distinctive comedy, lectures and the best of audio periodicals.
Channels is available as a free benefit for Audible Premium members, and can be purchased as a stand-alone offering for $4.95 a month.
“From our origins – harking back to the time when Audible commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997 and launched original short-form premium programming with Robin Williams in 2000 – we have believed the quality and character of everyday life would be enhanced by delivering the culture’s most compelling and artfully performed spoken words,” said Audible founder and CEO Donald Katz. “Channels is a natural extension of that founding premise, and we believe this new shorter-form service and the exciting original productions to come will become as popular and habit-forming as Audible’s audiobook service. It is a real pleasure to offer Audible Channels to our current and future Premium members as a free benefit.”
Channels will offer handpicked content in digestible shorter formats. Listeners can hear key audio selections from The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, and The Onion; and they will find programs arrayed across general topics such as Science Fiction, Food, Comedy, Sports, History, and Leadership.
At launch, Channels programming available to hear includes “Presidents Are People Too,” a series that recasts each of the American presidents into real-life people complete with flaws, quirks, triumphs, scandals, and bodily ailments, hosted by former Daily Show writer Elliott Kalan and American historian Alexis Coe; exclusive audio renditions of The Onion; “Limelight,” which highlights the best new standup performances from comedy clubs across the country with rotating guest hosts such as T. J. Miller, Ron Funches and the Sklar Brothers; “Hold On with Eugene Mirman,” in which funny live stories are interrupted with new details divulged by even funnier special guests, such as Jim Gaffigan and “Weird Al” Yankovic; “Hot Mic with Dan Savage,” an exclusive no-holds-barred look at sex featuring true confessions performed live on stage; lectures from The Great Courses; and exclusive audio from Smithsonian Magazine, Harvard Business Review and McSweeney’s.
“The Audible Channels team includes gifted creators who have come together in a way reminiscent of the vaudevillians and stand-up comedians who helped define the creative burst when radio began, and like the novelists who flocked to Hollywood to add elite professional-grade creativity to the birth of a new medium,” Mr. Katz added. “Led by Eric Nuzum, whose talents and pioneering accomplishments speak for themselves, the team includes the creators of many of the industry’s most-listened-to podcasts, as well as original programming experts ranging across dramatic entertainment, documentaries and comedy of all stripes, along with producers and editors who understand how to deliver the most compelling news and lifestyle-focused programming.”
Beginning today, listeners can also access preview episodes or excerpts from forthcoming original programs including “The Butterfly Effect,” hosted by Jon Ronson; “Breasts Unbound,” in which science journalist Florence Williams delves into the mysteries of the human breast; “Mortal City,” a talk show on the street and on the fringe with crime reporter Kathleen Horan; and “Authorized,” in which authors share their most intimate firsts, from drafts to rejections, with up-and-coming media personality Ashley C. Ford.
New original programs will be debuted regularly.
To learn more about Audible Channels, visit: www.audible.com/getchannels.
ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible was created to unleash the emotive music in language and the habituating power and utility of verbal expression. Audible content includes more than 300,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes® Store.