Netflix Taps Former Apple Podcasts Marketing Chief Steve Wilson to Lead Podcast Acquisitions

Netflix has hired Steve Wilson, a longtime Apple executive, to lead its podcast content acquisitions. The streamer confirmed the appointment, and Wilson will start on a contract basis as a consultant. The hire signals that Netflix wants a seasoned insider to guide its fast-growing push into video podcasts.

A Podcast Veteran Joins the Streamer

Wilson brings deep industry experience to the role. He spent 15 years at Apple, where he worked in editorial and partner relations and most recently headed marketing for Apple Podcasts. In that job, he partnered with podcasters and networks.

He left Apple in December 2020 and spent nearly six years at podcast studio QCode as chief strategy officer. He then took the same title at Daylight Media, a podcast and creator content company, which he has since left. Now he moves to Netflix to oversee what the service buys and licenses.

Netflix’s Growing Podcast Catalog

Netflix now offers more than 60 video podcasts and continues to expand its catalog. The company made its first big move in late 2025, when it struck a partnership with Spotify for a select group of video podcasts from Spotify Studios and The Ringer. That package included The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Zach Lowe Show, The McShay Show, The Rewatchables and Conspiracy Theories.

Since then, Netflix has licensed shows from iHeartMedia and Barstool and signed creators including Jay Shetty and Charlemagne Tha God. It has also built an original lineup of its own. That slate includes:

• True-crime show Murder With My Husband
• The Pete Davidson Show, hosted by the Saturday Night Live alum
• Pop-culture interview show Shut Up Evan, hosted by Evan Ross Katz
• The Puzzle Room With David Kwong
• Allegedly, a true-crime podcast from NBC News correspondent Ellison Barber

The strategy requires exclusivity for the podcasts on the platform. Many observers see it as an effort to compete with YouTube and to draw more viewers during the daytime hours. Netflix has not released viewing statistics for its podcasts, however, and it has not made a full-scale push into the medium.

Arrival Amid Turmoil

Wilson joins at a tumultuous moment. Two weeks ago, Netflix announced layoffs of 6% of its employees, equal to about 1,000 jobs. The cut was the company’s biggest to date and primarily hit the product, technology, legal and HR teams, according to an email from co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters.

“Our mission – to entertain the world – is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources,” the co-CEOs said in the memo.

Netflix said the reductions came as it examined areas where it was “overinvested in.” The shake-up also reached the upper ranks of the content side. The company ousted chief content officer Bela Bajaria, film head Dan Lin and his top lieutenant Doug Belgrad, along with director of original series Carolina Garcia.

New Leadership and Open Questions

Netflix tapped veteran TV executive Peter Rice to replace Bajaria, part of a broader revamp of its content strategy. Sarandos addressed the leadership change during the company’s Q3 2026 earnings call.

“I know that we could do better, and we want to build on that momentum,” co-CEO Ted Sarandos said.

Against that backdrop, Wilson’s hire suggests a more serious commitment to podcasts, even as the company trims staff elsewhere. Still, Netflix’s long-term interest in the format remains unclear. The company has yet to say how much it plans to invest or how it will measure success.

Wilson’s contract status adds to that uncertainty, since he begins as a consultant rather than a permanent executive. His background nonetheless gives Netflix a direct line to the podcast industry’s creators, networks and deal makers. As the streamer weighs more licensing agreements and original productions, his decisions will show how far it intends to take the medium.