Netflix Inc. has hired a former Apple Inc. executive to oversee its move into podcasts, indicating its commitment to the genre as the streaming company seeks to attract more viewers to its platform, according to a Bloomberg report yesterday.

Steve Wilson, who formerly managed partner relations at Apple Podcasts and recently left his role at Daylight Media, will be in charge of podcast content acquisition at Netflix, starting out as a consultant.

Netflix confirmed Wilson’s appointment. Wilson declined to comment.

Wilson is joining Netflix at an uncertain moment for the company — which announced plans to lay off six percent of staff earlier this month — and for its nascent podcasting efforts in particular.

Last year, Netflix began recruiting a handful of podcasters to distribute the video versions of their audio programs on the platform, including the pop culture show ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast’, one of the most popular sports podcasts.

The catch was that they had to be removed from YouTube, Netflix’s main rival for capturing viewers. In response, YouTube — the top platform for podcast consumption in the US — is hitting back by offering talents of all kinds millions of dollars to remain on its service.

Netflix’s spending on podcasting is a fraction of its overall $20 billion content budget, most of which goes to series and films.

Speaking at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference last month, co-Chief Executive officer Ted Sarandos said podcast and creator deals are a “very small investment and very small addition” to what the company does.

Netflix also hasn’t released viewership data for the podcasts on its site, despite publishing a biannual report on how much time people spend with its shows, suggesting viewership could be small.

A study earlier this year suggested 13 percent of US Netflix households had watched at least a minute of a podcast on the service and that ‘Breakfast Club’ was the most popular program based on total views.

Netflix’s approach to podcasts has so far largely focused on convincing podcast networks to encourage their talent to participate. For the largest programmes, however, losing their YouTube audience is a risk not only to the longevity of their shows but also for lost revenue.