The overheated podcast sector has hit an iceberg, according to recent reports citing staff layoffs and the end of the big-money talent deals that until recently had become  commonplace. Spotify, Amazon, NPR and SiriusXM have been trimming budgets while allowing costly agreements to expire without renewals. The sector grew explosively in the past decade, with the number of U.S. listeners age 12 and over who have tried podcasting more than doubling to 62 percent, or 177 million users, according to Edison Research. But now that the euphoria has worn off, a mature market is learning sustainability.

Among the casualties, The New York Times reports that Religion of Sports — launched by Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra in 2018 — has shuttered its audio division and laid off its podcasting employees after developing “a broad slate of shows ranging from talk programs to scripted drama” of which six have been released.

Mitigating factors for the sector include “a faltering advertising market and fears of a looming recession,” NYT writes. And after spending “more than $1 billion in recent years acquiring production companies and signing exclusive deals with celebrities like Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian,” Spotify in January announced it was reducing its podcast staff “for the third time in five months.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic fueled at-home activities, Amazon bought the Wondery podcast studio for $300 million, and SiriusXM sunk $325 million into the Stitcher distribution platform.

Celebrities commanded lofty sums, with Spotify spending more than $200 million for exclusive rights to “The Joe Rogan Experience” and Amazon paying as much as $80 million for “SmartLess,” hosted by Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes.

Now, the market is putting on the brakes. In addition to a weakened advertising market, ancillary recoupment opportunities like premium subscription and programming spin-offs did not pan out.

The podcast ad market, pegged at $1.5 billion in 2022, remains “minuscule” compared to television, at $70 billion for the year, Axios reports, noting that research from Listen Notes “showed an 80 percent drop in new podcasts created last year.”

In addition to fewer people creating new shows, the faltering sector shows “networks are having difficulties recouping investments, and longtime podcasters are on the hunt for ways to keep their shows sustainable,” according to Axios. But the category still has legs, and Polaris reports its biggest growth years are still ahead.