This special episode of The Publisher Podcast is an audio teaser for our Inside the Print Revival report, published by Media Voices. If you haven't already got the report, you can download it from voices.media/printrevival . We at Media Voices had been wondering for some time about what is really going on in the print magazine market as we watched the number of stories shared about print launches and relaunches grow from a trickle to, if not quite a tidal wave, a fairly fast-flowing stream. Talk...
Jul 14, 2025•17 min•Ep. 366
This is the first of a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newsletter and Print Summit - Passendo, Piano, Warners Group Publications, FIPP, and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their maga...
Jul 07, 2025•38 min•Ep. 365
It was standing room only at the inaugural Monetising B2B conference, organised by Flashes & Flames, at London's historic Stationers' Hall on 20th May. Peter and Esther went along to fly the flag for Media Voices. The conference was focused not on the difference between pureplay events and information companies, but on the data-fuelled intersection and growth potential between them. The breadth and depth of the day's content echoed the mission of Flashes & Flames and of the change underw...
Jun 30, 2025•41 min•Ep. 364
For publishers, the conversation around AI has moved on from how to incorporate it into the business. Now, 'Fear of missing out' has been replaced by 'Fear of not being able to measure'. This is the latest in our Media Briefs series of short, sharp sponsored episodes with a senior executive from a vendor working with publishers to make their businesses better. In this episode, we hear again from Bridged Media CEO Maanas Mediratta. Last time we spoke about how Bridged Media was making AI tools mo...
Apr 24, 2025•20 min•Ep. 363
In this bonus episode of The Publisher Podcast, sponsored by Memberful , we hear from Jen Matichuk, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Memberful. Jen spoke about how membership is a powerful way to diversify revenue, whether you need to introduce membership tiers (spoiler: you don't), and how to deliver value that converts. She also explores the value of community, and why evolution and iteration are key for retention. This episode of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberf...
Apr 17, 2025•37 min•Ep. 362
On this week’s episode of The Publisher podcast we hear from Alex White, Group Managing Director for Immediate Media’s Knowledge portfolio which includes BBC Gardeners' World, BBC History and Immediate’s parenting business, MadeForMums. We spoke about the benefits that come from the company’s focus on publishing verticals, how the magazine publisher is bringing a culture of innovation into the business by giving staff the space to innovate and how she believes encouraging an ‘entrepreneurial spi...
Mar 31, 2025•40 min•Ep. 361
In this episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Sam Baker, Senior Producer of Deutsche Welle's award-winning podcast Don't Drink The Milk. She takes us through the appeal of documentary and narrative podcasts, how the team is experimenting with video and AI, and how overlapping interests allows DW to find new audiences for its audio. And, of course, we discuss where the title 'Don't Drink The Milk' originates from. It's a fascinating story - and one that succinctly explains the appeal of c...
Mar 24, 2025•42 min•Ep. 360
On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Marissa Zanetti-Crume, Bloomberg Media’s Global Head of Product. Marissa talks about how her product team are collaborators, integrating content, technology, and commercial considerations. We also spoke about Bloomberg Media’s newsletter strategy and how its 70-strong newsletter portfolio is a mix of subscriber exclusives and free newsletters positioned to deliver both revenue and reach. Marissa explains how the introduction of a live ...
Mar 17, 2025•37 min•Ep. 359
This week on The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we're joined by Tav Klitgaard, Group CEO of Zetland Media. As well as news publication Zetland, the Danish company also has a book publishing business, an AI transcription startup, and has recently launched a Finnish publication called Uusi Juttu, which has attracted 15,000 paying members within the first two months. Tav discusses the importance of designing products to address user needs, and how that pays back in attracting paying younger aud...
Mar 10, 2025•43 min•Ep. 358
In this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast, Metro.co.uk’s Newsletter Editor Sophie Laughton takes us through… everything newsletter. From how the Metro’s redesign allowed the newsletter team to break silos, through how they’re solving discovery issues, to what newsletters offer that no other medium can, Laughton provides an A-Z on newsletters for publishers. This is both a newsletter strategy 101 and a rallying cry for what newsletters can offer to publishers. This season of The Publisher P...
Mar 03, 2025•35 min•Ep. 357
On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Esther Newman, Senior Editor and Podcast Host at Women’s Running. Esther explains that a recent exercise to create a persona for the typical Women's Running reader led to the realisation that there were a range of audiences accessing the brand in a variety of ways. While running is the banner that attracts readers to the brand, a whole host of women’s interests are what drives the community. From a monthly print magazine through a week...
Feb 24, 2025•37 min•Ep. 356
On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Dan Russell, Reach Plc's Engagement Director (for short). Reach Plc achieved its best ever month for traffic in January, based in no small part on a social strategy that is tailored to each platform - and doesn't rely on chasing huge hits. The teams across Reach's titles have also seen success in building communities on WhatsApp where, as Russell explains, the limited nature of messaging apps can be a benefit rather than a drawback. He...
Feb 17, 2025•40 min•Ep. 355
This week on The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we're joined by Press Gazette's Chief Commercial Officer Richard Jamieson. He takes us for a behind-the-scenes look at how the industry publication makes money, and the huge changes he's overseen in its commercial strategy over the past few years. Richard outlines the opportunities he saw coming onto a well-respected B2B brand which previously had limited commercialisation but a really strong audience. He also discusses the results of some big ...
Feb 10, 2025•29 min•Ep. 354
Live content is a crucial tool for publishers for attracting and retaining readers, especially younger audiences used to finding real-time information from social media. Publishers have an opportunity to add vital context and expertise compared to alternative sources. This is the latest in our Media Briefs series of short, sharp sponsored episodes with senior executives from a vendor working with publishers to make their businesses better. In this episode we hear from Norkon CEO Eirik Næsje and ...
Feb 06, 2025•21 min•Ep. 353
This week on The Publisher Podcast we speak to Katie Vanneck Smith, CEO at Hearst UK. Katie's career spans The Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Telegraph, as well as co-founding Tortoise. In the two years since joining Hearst, the company has launched and revamped membership programmes for Elle, Good Housekeeping, Men's Health and Women's Health, and soon Prima and Runner's World. Katie talks about subscriptions versus memberships, the importance of publishing teams, the future of print, a...
Feb 03, 2025•35 min•Ep. 352
In this bonus episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, Chris Sutcliffe, Esther Thorpe and Peter Houston take a look at what’s happened in the world of media in January. A bonus monthly wrap-up of key news is something new we’re trialling following feedback which said you missed the three of us together and our take on what’s going on. Here we discuss the boost to publisher coffers from post-inauguration donations, the capitulation of tech-bro capitalists to Trump, and ask what on earth ...
Jan 30, 2025•45 min•Ep. 351
In this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast, we speak to Hannah Ballantyne, Senior Social Media Manager at Which?, a not-for-profit consumer-focused publication. Hannah contributed to a fascinating article in InPublishing late last year about steering the brand's debut on TikTok ; a strategy which has won the team awards. With the ongoing saga between platforms, publishers and politicians showing no signs of cooling, we had a timely conversation about which platforms they prioritise at Which...
Jan 27, 2025•34 min•Ep. 350
This week on The Publisher Podcast we hear from Tim Huelskamp, CEO and co-founder of 1440, a daily curated newsletter that now reaches over 4 million daily readers. He tells us about finding white space in the newsletter market, the forecast for newsletter advertising, whether the claim to be ‘unbiased’ is a selling point for audiences, and what it means to be an employee-owned media organisation. Tim was involved in the private equity game for around a decade prior to founding 1440, spending ti...
Jan 20, 2025•39 min•Ep. 349
We’re kicking off 2025’s first season of The Publisher Podcast by talking to Jim Bilton, Managing Director at Wessenden Marketing and Brandlab Research. Jim produces bimonthly research and updates on the business of content distribution through WessendenBriefing, and has decades of experience consulting for media businesses. In this episode, we explore the standout publisher product trends from 2024, what publishers are investing in this year, and how optimistic everyone is feeling. Jim also hig...
Jan 13, 2025•45 min•Ep. 348
This episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices – our last for this season – was recorded at the White Swan in Aldgate, London on November 27th in front of a live audience. In the absence of our usual annual Media Moments report*, we took a fun look back at some of the pivotal publishing moments of the year, and what 2025 might have in store. The audience were invited to participate so we’re able to include contributions from wiser folks than us! The team’s top stories from 2024 The Onion ...
Dec 02, 2024•41 min•Ep. 347
In this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast, we hear from Emma O’Brian, SVP Strategy for Dow Jones. Everyone knows Dow Jones – or at least a few parts of its portfolio, even if they don’t know it as part of the greater organisation. But as the company moves from a portfolio-based business to a vertical-oriented publishing and information one, how is that impacting its back room strategy, and how it seeks new acquisitions? The company is more than simply the index that bears its name, as our ...
Nov 25, 2024•39 min•Ep. 346
This week on The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we're joined by Will Hayward, journalist, author and columnist specialising in Welsh politics. He also writes The Will Hayward Newsletter , which he relaunched in September after running it for nearly a year as one of Reach plc's Substack experiments, where it won Best Politics Newsletter at this year's Publisher Newsletter Awards . Since going it alone, he's built up more than 3,000 subscribers in just seven weeks, with revenues and subscriber...
Nov 18, 2024•29 min•Ep. 345
Third-party cookies aren’t going away any time soon, but many publishers have already reduced dependency on them as a revenue stream. As the landscape continues to shift, what should publishers looking towards the longer term be thinking of when it comes to their own data strategies, and how can various types of first-party data play a part? This is the latest in our Media Briefs series of short, sharp sponsored episodes with a senior executive from a vendor working with publishers to make their...
Nov 14, 2024•21 min•Ep. 344
This week on The Publisher Podcast, as part of the product-oriented remit we’ve set ourselves for the series, we hear from Ludovica D’Angelo, Director of Publishing Operations for the Total Politics Group. As we discuss in the episode, that’s a very specialised publishing business – and a commensurately specialised role. But for Ludovica, who has previously worked for publications as varied as news magazine The Week and luxury food and drink magazine Il luogo ideale, it has been another opportun...
Nov 11, 2024•43 min•Ep. 343
On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we hear from Kat Craddock Editor-in-Chief, CEO and owner of Saveur magazine, a 30-year old publishing brand that returned to print this year after a 4 year hiatus. Kat’s announcement that Saveur would be returning to print, is one of the best, most honest explanations I’ve seen of how print publishing has changed. She explains to readers that the magazine will cost more than it used to, frequency will drop to twice a year and super...
Nov 04, 2024•28 min•Ep. 342
On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we hear from Daniel Smith, Managing Director of the Mark Allen Group’s Agriculture division, which includes brands like Farmers Weekly, Pig World and Poultry Business. His team are behind the Farmers Weekly podcast, which was shortlisted in the Best B2B Podcast category at the Publisher Podcast Awards earlier this year. Farmers Weekly have been really smart about monetising a niche podcast topic and audience, so we discussed creati...
Oct 28, 2024•33 min•Ep. 341
On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we speak to Brandon Grosvenor, Chief Revenue Officer at Torstar Corporation, home of The Toronto Star. Over the summer, The Toronto Star became one of the first large publishers in North America to announce they were rolling out micropayments. It's a feature audiences frequently request - especially with the rise of paywalls - but for a myriad of reasons, few publishers have experimented with. Brandon discusses why they decided to ...
Oct 21, 2024•27 min•Ep. 340
On this week’s episode of Media Voices, we hear from The Knowledge’s founder Jon Connell. The Knowledge is a free-to-read newsletter aimed not at a particular demographic, but at a ‘mindset’. Connell and team’s aim is to provide an antidote to the outrage engine, instant gratification-baiting nature of social publishing. At the same time they seek to speak to people who are curious and wish to hear from a variety of perspectives; the challenge lies in squaring that circle. In the episode we also...
Oct 14, 2024•32 min•Ep. 339
On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we speak to John Shields, Director of Podcasts at The Economist. They made the bold move last year to put almost all their podcasts behind a paywall, creating a separate Economist Podcasts+ subscription option. A year on from the launch of Economist Podcasts+, John discusses what drove the decision, some of the risks and opportunities of charging for audio, and the lessons they've learned over the past 12 months. This season is spo...
Oct 07, 2024•28 min•Ep. 338
On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we hear from Paul Ostwald, co-founder of Morningcrunch , a German-language media brand aimed at young professionals. Since launching in summer 2023, they've grown to the point that their newsletters now go out to over 50,000 young professionals every morning. Morningcrunch is ad-funded, and Paul explains how he's working with a German media house to bring in bigger deals. He also talks about how he's taken inspiration from newslett...
Sep 30, 2024•32 min•Ep. 337
