Defector Media, the sports and culture publication launched four years ago by former Deadspin writers, is an example of the mixed picture for the future of the media business. On the plus side, it is a profitable, employee-owned publication with 42,500 paying subscribers supporting a $4.6 million business. At the same time, the company saw revenue growth drop to 2.2% from 18% last year and 16% in 2022. Defector's Jasper Wang joined me to discuss Defector’s plans to expand its ad revenue, the ine...
Oct 22, 2024•55 min•Ep. 141
I was joined by Reid DeRamus to discuss the strategic and tactical decisions that go into building an independent media business. We discuss everything from choosing a business model, using the leverage of individual reputation, the value of consistency and authenticity, the mistake of over-reliance on optimization techniques, and the challenge of growth as tried-and-true methods wane in efficacy.
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 140
In this Spotlight episode, Josh Brandau, CEO of The Rebooting partner Nota, discusses how AI can be a critical tool for newsrooms in a more-with-less era. osh is a publishing veteran having been CRO and CMO at the Los Angeles Times. That informed his decision to create Nota since like other publishers he saw legacy media struggling to adopt technologies that underpin sustainable businesses. We discuss the inefficiencies inherent in a lot of newsrooms that end up taking scarce resources away from...
Oct 07, 2024•48 min•Ep. 139
Fitt Insider , a media brand for the fitness and wellness industry, is a good example of the type of media brand that hits on many of the current trends in the industry: Niche. The fitness and broader wellness industry is a growing area that will only expand. B2B. The most robust media models are B2B or targeting influential audiences with similar approaches. Direct. Fitt relies on podcasts for engagement and its 100,000 email subscriber list for audience data and a direct connection. Organic. T...
Oct 01, 2024•55 min•Ep. 138
This week, I was joined by one of my favorite media entrepreneurs, Adam White. Adam has built Front Office Sports from a college project to the $10 million in revenue mark, with backing from Jeff Zucker's Redbird IMI. Some of the topics we covered: Why investing in creative strategy is critical to break through with big brands. The “faces and franchises” approach. The limits of built-if-sold projects. The decision to put off subscriptions....
Sep 23, 2024•49 min•Ep. 137
Adam Mendelsohn operates at the nexus of sports, media, business and culture. Adam is a longtime advisor to LeBron James and his business partner Maverick Carter. He’s a communications advisor to many athletes and companies. And he’s recently rolled out his own sports platform, OffBall, which is something of a throwback to a pre-algorithmic era where Drudge report and other curators reigned supreme. We discussed: The genesis and vision behind OffBall, a new sports media venture The long-term imp...
Sep 16, 2024•51 min•Ep. 136
This week marks an important moment in the history of digital advertising as the U.S. Department of Justice presses its case that Google is a monopolist in ad tech. The seeds of this case were planted in 2007, when Google bought DoubleClick, a critical piece of internet advertising infrastructure that was widely used by advertisers and publishers in running ad campaigns. With DoubleClick in the fold, Google methodically grew to dominate all phases of digital advertising by piecing together a ful...
Sep 09, 2024•42 min•Ep. 135
Scott Messer is founder of media advisory firm Messer Media and former svp of media at Leaf Group. Scott is in the weeds on the digital ad ecosystem, and he broke down the current state of play for publishers. We discussed why traffic declines are still the No. 1 challenge for publishers, why publishers are shifting from traditional monetization mechanisms, retail media as potential allies, and why “curation” is the latest hot new trend in ad tech, even if it sounds quite a lot like what ad netw...
Aug 19, 2024•47 min•Ep. 134
In a spotlight episode of The Rebooting Show, I spoke with Affinity Global CEO Lavin Punjabi for his view of how publishers adapt their affiliate operations. Affinity operates NucleusLinks, an affiliate operations platform that serves as something akin to Google Ad Manager for affiliate operations. Some takeaways: Many publishers are playing catch up. Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest internet business models, with its growth turbocharged by the ease and rise of e-commerce. Many legacy pu...
Aug 13, 2024•52 min•Ep. 133
On this week’s episode of The Rebooting Show, I was joined by Ana Andjelic, a veteran brand executive and writer of the Sociology of Business newsletter. I wanted to try an episode with Ana because we focus on different ends of the media ecosystem. Among the issues we discuss: The internet’s impact on brands. “It forces you to compete on everything other than on brand. You compete on price, convenience, product recognizability, speed of your supply chain." Product-led branding . “It’s starting ...
Aug 05, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 132
This week, we are wrapping up a series on The Rebooting Show that examines the role of product at a time of distribution and monetization shifts. The twin themes that emerged are that publishers are increasingly focused on direct relationships with audiences and are in a back-to-basics mode of focusing product resources on critical business objectives, which often rely on loyalty. And the looming question: How will AI be used to make these businesses more effective while not losing their distinc...
Jul 29, 2024•45 min•Ep. 131
At the Media Product Forum earlier this month, I spoke with Gannett head of product Renn Turiano, Hearst Newspapers chief commercial officer Bridget Williams and Millie Tran, chief digital content officer at the Council on Foreign Relations. The conversation revolved around the shifting product priorities at publishers at a time when the weight of most publishing businesses is shifting from catering to the whims of platforms to a more independent path. That requires a change in focus to satisfy ...
Jul 22, 2024•31 min•Ep. 130
At last week’s Media Product Forum, which The Rebooting held in collaboration with WordPress VIP, I had a discussion with Dotdash Meredith chief product officer Adam McClean and The Daily Beast svp of product Samantha Winkelman about their respective product strategies. While both owned by IAC, the publishers are at vastly different sizes, with The Daily Beast having three people in product to DDM’s 75. The connective tissue of both: A focus on audience needs.
Jul 17, 2024•29 min•Ep. 129
In a session recorded at The Media Product Forum in NYC, Bloomberg Media global head of product Marissa Zanetti-Crume shares how the media organization takes an audience-focused approach to building products. Marissa highlights the importance of understanding user behavior, particularly the shift towards personalized, relevant content delivered efficiently. She shares insights on Bloomberg's recent homepage redesign, the role of AI in enhancing user experience, and the strategic decisions drivin...
Jul 16, 2024•31 min•Ep. 128
In a discussion held in Cannes, I sat down with Jason White, chief product and technology officer at The Arena Group, and Johanna Bergqvist, general manager of the managers at The Rebooting partner EX.CO. A part of the conversation that resonated was how White has zeroed in on revenue per session as what he calls the “God metric” that prioritizes session depth over raw page views. This is a recognition that traditionally digital media publishers have focused on eyeballs without understanding the...
Jul 11, 2024•32 min•Ep. 127
In a session recorded at the Cannes Lions, Hearst Magazines CRO Lisa Ryan and Jen Dorre join the show to discuss how the publisher is responding to the shifts in advertising to performance-focused channels, including retail media and platforms. Skip to topic: 00:00 Introduction 01:36 Realism in Publishing and Growth Strategies 04:45 Focus on Audience and Data Utilization 07:33 Innovative Ad Products and Consumer Engagement 13:03 Challenges and Opportunities in Attribution 14:26 The Role of Brand...
Jul 02, 2024•25 min•Ep. 126
In this episode recorded at the Dotdash Meredith villa in Cannes, Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel and Axios senior media reporter Sara Fischer discuss the impact AI is set to have on the publishing business. Skip to topic: 00:00 Introduction 03:04 Challenges and Opportunities in Publishing 05:44 The Role of Algorithms in Media 13:02 AI Deals and Legal Considerations 22:47 AI's Impact on Business: Myth vs. Reality 25:38 The Future of Print and Digital Media 31:36 The Role of Credibility and Relev...
Jun 25, 2024•45 min•Ep. 125
This episode from Cannes of The Rebooting Show, presented by Outbrain, features David Kostman (CEO of Outbrain), Kate Scott-Dawkins (Global President for Business Intelligence at GroupM), and Johanna Mayer-Jones (chief advertising officer of the Washington Post). They discuss the ad market's growth contrasted with the decline in ad revenue for news publishers. Emphasizing the value of trusted journalism, they explore the importance of advanced audience targeting and AI in creating brand-safe env...
Jun 17, 2024•33 min•Ep. 124
Semafor editor in chief Ben Smith sees a fragmenting media landscape and impatient owners running headlong into the peculiarities of newsroom culture, where bosses have never had an easy time. Enter the hard-charing Brits. Also: check out Ben’s new podcast, Mixed Signals, in which Ben and co-host Nayeema Raza unpack the real conspiracies of modern media . Skip to topic: 00:54 Introducing Ben Smith and Mixed Signals 04:14 Podcasting and Media Expertise 09:09 Challenges in Modern Newsrooms 20:11 U...
Jun 11, 2024•45 min•Ep. 123
In the wake of Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post in 2013 and the heady “Democracy Dies in Darkness” days following the 2016 election, The Washington Post was considered a credible rival to The New York Times. That’s no longer the case. New CEO Will Lewis is embarking on a turnaround at the Post, which lost $77 million last year. As Lewis put it, “We are in a hole, and we have been for some time.” On this week’s episode, Matt Cronin, founding partner of House of Kaizen, joins to discuss the P...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 122
Publishing is shifting from prioritizing breadth to rewarding depth. That starts with understanding the audience — and its segments — more granularly in order to create a more sustainable and varied business foundation. Cory Munchbach, CEO of BlueConic, shares her view of the next chapter. Skip to topic: 00:00 Introduction and Media Challenges 01:02 Welcome to The Rebooting Show 01:44 Discussion on Audience vs. Consumer 03:38 Key Takeaways from the New Growth Agenda 07:22 Challenges in Media Tra...
May 21, 2024•47 min•Ep. 121
Scott Porch, founder of Big IP, which operates the business side of several popular lifestyle podcasts like The John Campea Show, Happy Sad Confused, Star Wars Explained, discusses that state of podcasting, and how it is morphing. He acts as something of a talent manager in expanding these podcasts into more well rounded media companies, with revenue coming from memberships and events. The growth of these businesses will not be driven by ads necessarily. "Podcasters are influencers in a lot of r...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 120
Detailed.com's Glen Allsop breaks down the massive Google update roiling the publishing world as Google attempts to gain control of spammy results. Glenn breaks down the winners and losers, why big publishers have come to depend on SEO and often push the envelope with sub-standard content and brand arbitrage.
May 07, 2024•53 min•Ep. 119
Emma Tucker was named the editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal (and Dow Jones Newswires) in early 2023. She was brought in with a mandate to shake up the Journal in a media market that Emma describes as changed “beyond recognition.” The Journal itself has its own challenges: an aging subscriber base that’s pushing 60, a stodgy internal culture and often convoluted editing process that’s exacting yet hard to square in the current realities of publishing. Like other publishers (and companies...
Apr 30, 2024•49 min•Ep. 118
Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at NYU, discusses the diminished state of the industry, promising nonprofit models and new funding models that subsidize public service journalism since the economic foundations supporting it have crumbled, and The New York Times has strayed farther into progressivism since Trump’s ride down that escalator. Get 25% off a TRB Pro membership for access to all of The Rebooting's content and exclusive events....
Apr 23, 2024•45 min•Ep. 117
I’m joined by Matt Cronin, founding partner at House of Kaizen, which works with publishers and other companies with recurring revenue businesses to align their business goals with audience needs through customer experience frameworks. Some highlights of our conversation: Shift to audience-centric approaches: There's a significant shift towards understanding and directly engaging audiences rather than relying on platforms for traffic, which involves a fundamental transition to being audience-cen...
Apr 16, 2024•51 min•Ep. 116
On this week’s episode of The Rebooting Show, I spoke to writer John McDermott about his recent expose of self-help guru Jay Shetty and what it says about the chaotic Information Space. We delve into the paradox of influencer culture, where authenticity is a currency, even if the influencers themselves are as flawed as the general population. There’s often a blurry line between fake-it-’til-you-make-it and fraud.
Mar 26, 2024•48 min•Ep. 115
Stephanie Kaplan Lewis founded Her Campus in 2009 with Annie Wang, and Windsor Western as college undergraduates. They saw a need for college women to have a publication made for them by other college women. Her Campus has grown since then as a profitable, growing media business with 85 employees. Stephanie says Her Campus expanded revenue by 50% last year – and did it with an entirely ad-focused business model. Stephanie credits the growth in large part to building a long-term business that wor...
Mar 19, 2024•52 min•Ep. 114
Matt Cronin is a founding partner at House of Kaizen , a consultancy that works with publishers and other companies on recurring revenue growth. House of Kaizen, which is a sponsoring partner of The Rebooting, uses research-backed experiments to foster audience-first engagement. This allows clients to turn total reader revenue into cumulative gains. We discuss how publishers can become truly audience centric, what publishers can learn from other consumer companies and more...
Mar 12, 2024•55 min•Ep. 113
Mosheh Oinounou, a broadcast news veteran, started posting summaries of the news of the day during the early days of the pandemic. He found they were resonating, and over the past few years, Mo News has amassed 440,000 followers on Instagram for news delivered mostly through Instagram Stories. Mosh has since expanded to a daily podcast, a membership program that’s attracted 6,000 paying subscribers, newsletter and more. We spoke about the prospects of “creator journalists,” why his evenhanded ap...
Feb 27, 2024•52 min•Ep. 112
