- Facebook plans to erase all podcasts from its platform starting June 3, Bloomberg reports.
- The company launched its podcast service in June 2021.
- Facebook won't tell users about the closure of the service, per a company note seen by Bloomberg.
Facebook is getting out of the podcast game just one year after getting into it.
It will stop letting users add podcasts to its platform this week, and will erase all podcasts starting June 3, Bloomberg reported, citing a note sent by Facebook to its partners.
Facebook launched its live audio and podcast service in June 2021 amid a craze for social audio platforms spurred by the live audio app Clubhouse.
In the note seen by Bloomberg, Facebook told its partners it wouldn't alert users to the fact it was shutting its podcast service, leaving partners to decide whether and how to inform their listeners.
Meta did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider.
"We're constantly evaluating the features we offer so we can focus on the most meaningful experiences," a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg.
Facebook became a subsidiary of its parent company Meta following a rebrand in October last year, and is trying to stay relevant while its parent company turns its focus towards the metaverse.
Bloomberg reported in April that Facebook was placing less focus on audio in its conversations with podcast producers, and leaning more heavily on other ideas including metaverse events.
Facebook lost users for the first time ever in the last three months of 2021 but it reported last week that it had started to gain users again in Q1 of this year.