Just days after leaving his position as CEO of Fox International Channels, Hernan Lopez announced the launch of Wondery, a venture hoping to reshape the way podcasts are distributed and monetized.

Born in Argentina, Lopez began his career in radio, but ended up spending nearly 20 years working his way to the top of Fox International. He sees this moment as the perfect opportunity for Wondery to shake up the podcast business. And it's clear he's still on good terms with Fox Networks, as the company is Wondery's first major investor.

"The sheer numbers, the desirable demographics, and the intimate environment in which advertisers can engage with audiences make it clear that there is a compelling business opportunity here," said Lopez in a statement released to Latin Post. "With the support of Fox and the relationships I have built over my 26 years in radio and television, I am confident that Wondery will be able to attract great storytellers and unrivaled consumer interest."

After going through a couple of blossoming periods in the 'aughts, podcasting has begun to boom again. Nearly 50 million Americans listen to podcasts on a monthly basis, an audience that has been growing by 40 percent in the last two years. The demand for podcasts, by some accounts, is expected to grow to 15 billion listener-hours in 2020, more than doubling the six billion hours consumed in 2013.

At the same time, as Wired recently noted, Apple's dominance in the distribution of podcasts -- keep in mind, the name of the medium itself comes in part from Apple's iPod -- has been waning. For example, for the first time, season two of "Serial, "the most popular podcast ever, was released concurrently on Apple's Podcast app and also on Pandora. In this climate, and without Apple's distribution monopoly, having support and branding from a network may prove increasingly attractive to podcasters.

And with 51 percent of Americans still unaware of what podcasts are, according to an Edison study cited by Wired, there's still plenty of room for new podcast networks to grow into, if such a network can bring together innovations in the advertising paradigm and high-demand content.

With Wondery, which will be partnering with the San Francisco podcast infrastructure company ART19, Lopez hopes to do just that. ART19 will power Wondery with its proprietary WarpFeed technology, which uses dynamically inserted ads, including host-read spots, that targets listeners based on demographics, time, and location.

"Monetization in podcasting has been held up by antiquated technology," said CEO of ART19 Sean Carr. "With targeting, measurement, and back catalog advertising, our technology will provide Wondery with the tools it needs to sell to major brands."

Lopez plans on building the brand into a podcasting hub, or as Wondery puts it, an audio on-demand network, of existing high-production podcasts, in addition to creating new content and shows.

"Wondery gives me the ability to combine many things I know and love -- storytelling, network and brand building and technology -- in the fastest growing segment of on-demand consumption," said Lopez. "This is the perfect timing to capture this opportunity, using some of the best practices that have transformed television over the last ten years."

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