Netflix has hired Steve Wilson, a former Apple Podcasts executive, to help shape its growing podcast strategy. Wilson will be responsible for podcast content acquisition at the streamer and is starting in a consulting role. Netflix confirmed the appointment, which was first reported by Bloomberg.
Wilson spent 15 years at Apple, where his work covered editorial, partner relations and marketing of shows on Apple Podcasts. He more recently departed Daylight Media, a podcast and creator content company. Before that, he served as chief strategy officer at QCODE.
The hire points to a more serious push into podcasts by Netflix. It comes shortly after the company announced plans to cut about 6 percent of its workforce, roughly 1,000 people. That is the largest staff reduction at Netflix since 2022.
Netflix said the layoffs followed a review of areas where it was "overinvested in." The cuts also reached into its upper ranks, affecting chief content officer Bela Bajaria, film chief Dan Lin, film VP Doug Belgrad and a number of high-ranking television executives, as part of a revamp of its content strategy.
Even so, the streamer's long-term interest in podcasts is still unclear. Netflix made its first major move into the format in November 2025, after announcing in October a partnership with Spotify. The deal brought a select group of video podcasts from Spotify Studios and The Ringer to Netflix, including The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Zach Lowe Show, The McShay Show, The Rewatchables and Conspiracy Theories.
Since then, Netflix has widened its efforts by licensing podcasts from iHeartMedia and Barstool. It has also launched original podcasts, such as The Pete Davidson Show, and signed creators including Jay Shetty and Charlemagne Tha God.
The strategy requires that the podcasts be exclusive to the platform. It has been widely viewed as an attempt to compete with entertainment giant YouTube and to draw more viewers during daytime hours.
However, Netflix has not released viewership figures for its podcasts, and it has not yet made a full-scale push into the medium.
