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The Digiday Podcast

The Digiday Podcast is a weekly show where we discuss the big stories and issues that matter to brands, agencies and publishers as they transition to the digital age.

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Bonus: This March, the bootstrapped media company Mobile Nations, a digital publisher with a focus on consumer electronics, was acquired by Future in a deal worth $120 million. On this episode, Mobile Nations co-founder and COO Kevin Michaluk, discussed why venture capital funding never made sense for the company that last reported $8 million EBITDA over $16 million in revenue.

Mobile Nations' Kevin Michaluk: 'We didn't know what to spend VC money on'

Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini believes Barstool can be a $100 million revenue company "within the next year and a half." That will have to come from growing channels of revenue and not depending on any one of them, especially advertising. Nardini discussed how Barstool is building out these revenue streams, why personalities matter, how podcast revenue is lucrative for Barstool and more.

Barstool Sports' Erika Nardini: Barstool aims to hit $100m in revenue in 2020

This is a special four-episode series of the Digiday Podcast, where we invite executives from bootstrapped media companies to talk about how they run a sustainable and profitable media business. Morning Brew is a daily email newsletter that delivers business stories to over a million subscribers from Monday through Saturday. The bootstrapped media company has about 18 people on the team. On this episode, co-founder and COO Austin Rief, discussed competing with small and large media organizations, being a subscriptions company, path to growth and more

Morning Brew's Austin Rief: Bootstrapping a media company gives you focus

The Mueller Report confirmed a lot of reporting already done around the Trump administration and Russian meddling in the 2016 election. One of the many newsrooms whose reporting was vindicated in the process is The Daily Beast, a mid-sized publisher that seized the opportunity to compete with big news organizations like The New York Times and The Washington Post. Noah Shachtman, editor-in-chief at The Daily Beast, discussed how the Beast approaches scoops, the progress on its membership model and more.

The Daily Beast's Noah Shachtman: We want to be an 'old school, scrappy and street-smart tabloid'

In this special four-episode series of the Digiday Podcast, we invite executives from bootstrapped media companies to talk about how they run a sustainable and profitable media business. Courier, a London-based, bimonthly magazine, is focused on modern business and startup culture around the world. The bootstrapped media company is about six years old and has 12 people on staff with a network of contributors globally. On this episode, Jeff Taylor, the founder of Courier magazine, talks about why he never went down the venture capital route.

Courier's Jeff Taylor: Having a lot of VC money can leave you 'punch drunk'

Meredith, which acquired Time Inc in 2018, is home to a stable of female-focused media brands like People and Every Day with Rachel Ray. The company's long relied on print revenue, but like everyone else, is now looking to diversify revenue streams, especially in digital. Jon Werther, president of National Media Group at Meredith, discusses their roadmap to revenue diversification, competing with platforms and more. 

Meredith's Jon Werther: Apple News+ is a growth opportunity

Programmatic advertising is playing a larger role in the future of publishing.  Recent Digiday research found that over half of publishers now generate more revenue from programmatic advertising than any other channel. On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, Mike Smith, chief data officer at Hearst, joined Digiday editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey in an attempt to break down the current state of programmatic advertising.

Hearst's Mike Smith explains WTF is programmatic advertising

The pivot to paid is not on the cards for Group Nine, the holding company founded in 2016 that houses brands including The Dodo, NowThis and Thrillist. The goal for the media company: Use advertising, including branded content and entertainment, to build a sustainable media business. At a live recording event of the Digiday Podcast, Group Nine president Christa Carone said the strategy has paid off. Sign up to subscribe to Digiday Plus for three months for only $49. Use code INTRO at checkout.

Group Nine's Christa Carone: Consolidation has helped us be more efficient

IMGN Media, the digital media company that owns Daquan, the meme account with 12.3 million Instagram followers, is focused on creating content for teens and young adults primarily on Instagram and Snapchat. Barak Shragai, co-founder and CEO of the company says the company isn't just a social media account but also a media brand. On this episode, Shragai makes a case for why Instagram accounts with massive audiences are not just a cultural phenomenon but also sustainable and profitable media brands. He also also talks about creating video for Snapchat and Instagram when most other publishers have cooled off on video for platforms. Get Digiday+ for three months at only $99. Enter code INTRO at checkout.

IMGN Media's Barak Shragai: You can build media brands on Instagram

2018 was a year of organizational restructuring at Condé Nast, followed by a decision to offset the decline in print business by focusing on the growth areas, including on longform video and of course, implementing a paywall at all of the publisher's properties by the end of 2019. Pamela Drucker Mann, Condé Nast CRO, discussed how the subscription plan across all Condé Nast properties in the U.S. will roll out, why Conde is putting its Snapchat efforts on pause and more. Get Digiday+ for three months for only $49. Use code INTRO to subscribe.

Conde Nast CRO Pamela Drucker Mann: Not all brands are worth paying for

Local journalism is in crisis. Emily Bell, director of Tow Center at Columbia University, sees hope in policy and regulation to provide a solution. Sign up for the three-month Digiday+ subscription plan. Use code INTRO. Offer available for a limited time only.

Columbia University's Emily Bell: Platforms need to pay for polluting the journalism environment

Whether big tech platforms need to be broken up in order to rein them in is now a matter of public debate -- and will be a big topic during the U.S. presidential election next year. Dina Srinivasan is an academic, who went from being an ad tech entrepreneur to writing about the anti-trust case against Facebook, most recently for the Berkeley Business Law Journal. She doesn't think breaking up big tech is the answer. Instead, she advocates for the anti-trust approach. Srinivasan discussed why antitrust is the way to deal with Facebook, how the dominance of Facebook and Google is different from the fleeting power of Myspace and Yahoo and what a likely federal regulatory remedy would look like. Sign up for the three-month Digiday+ subscription plan. Use code INTRO. Offer available for a limited time only.

Dina Srinivasan: Facebook is a monopoly, but breaking it up isn't the answer

One-year-old startup NewsGuard is trying to turn the problem of unreliable and fake news into a real business. The company, which raised $6 million in an initial funding round, creates "nutrition labels" for news organizations, rating them red if they are unreliable and green if they are trustworthy. The rating is not based on an algorithm but traditional reporting by a team of 35 journalists. Steven Brill, co-founder and co-CEO at NewsGuard, says the goal is to get a license fee from technology companies to rate all news websites. On this episode, Brill talked about the company's business model, where growth lies and being the alternative to algorithms

NewsGuard's Steven Brill: A journalistic approach to digital misinformation can work

In the era of deep connections with passionate audiences, being in the middle is rough. That's why USA Today is focused on scale. USA Today makes 75% of its revenue from digital advertising and 25% from print advertising. On this episode, COO Michael Kuntz discusses why USA Today won't pivot to paid in the foreseeable future, the reason for mass layoffs a couple weeks ago, the next step forward and more.

USA Today Network's Michael Kuntz: In this industry, you're either the consolidator or consolidated

Diversification is on most publishers' minds as they work to build sustainable businesses that can withstand massive shifts. Pam Wasserstein, CEO of New York Media, is intimately familiar with the process of revenue diversification, from paywalls to e-commerce and even technology licensing. Moving forward, Wasserstein is focused on achieving a balance between advertising and these new streams of revenue. On this week's episode of The Digiday Podcast, Digiday editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey, sits down with Wasserstein to discuss how New York Media is approaching revenue diversification, its vertical strategy across multiple brands and how Wasserstein plans to create a sustainable business model out of all of it.

New York Media's Pam Wasserstein: We have to diversify from an ad-driven model

Digital media is going through a tumultuous period. Layoffs at publishers such as Buzzfeed, Gannett and Vice in recent weeks have become the latest example in what appears to be a coming reckoning for new media companies. At the same time, successes where publishers have created differentiated brands also proves that it's not all doom and gloom. Melissa Bell, publisher at Vox Media, and the founder of Vox.com, is cheerily optimistic about the industry. For her, Vox has outgrown the label of a digital media company, and is growing into a modern media company -- complete with diverse revenue streams, opportunistic acquisitions and a partnership with Facebook that may actually make it some money.

Vox Media's Melissa Bell: The industry has given Facebook too much emphasis in the conversation

For many, digital media's ills are down to the broken advertising technology that acts as the plumbing for the industry. Adam Zucker-Scharff, director of ad tech at the Washington Post, says it's more complicated than that: Advertisers are going to have to work at making ad tech transparent. "We've seen advertisers pulling back from the programmatic space because of these conflicts. We need them to be in this space," said Zucker-Scharff on the Digiday Podcast. "It's very easy to see how advertisers can lose trust in the system when there's no transparency. It can't be solved by adding another piece of technology. If you're an advertiser, why do you need 12 viewability verifications? There's a point at which you have to say you're ready to give up a level of potential earnings in order to make our systems transparent and clear and to make sure you're not ending up as vectors for stuff that's to the detriment of users from a publisher's level or an advertiser's level."

The Washington Post's Aram Zucker-Scharff: You can't solve transparency by adding more technology

Gen-Z is the latest object of marketer fascination. The teenage demographic has its own language and very different traits when it comes to the Internet and social media consumption -- just witness the Instagram egg. Taylor Lorenz, staff writer at The Atlantic, has carved out a niche for herself exploring the nuances of Gen Z internet culture, and the impact it has on media and marketing. Lorenz discusses the power of influencer marketing, why Instagram wins over Facebook, and how YouTube's algorithm still poses a problem. Plus, we get deep into what a finsta is.

The Atlantic's Taylor Lorenz: Facebook is irrelevant to Gen-Z

If you're in sports media, you're likely familiar with the world of sports betting. Action Network, a subscription-based media company that covers sports betting and helps bettors make informed bets, is on a mission to turn all sports fans into bettors of some degree. Patrick Keane, CEO at Action Network, discusses whether the category is niche or attracts mass participation, having more than one revenue streams and more.

Action Network's Patrick Keane: I want to turn all sports fans into bettors

Publisher interest in podcasts is at an all-time high. But figuring out exactly what kind of storytelling model is ideal for audiences, as well as metrics for success, still remains difficult. On this bonus episode of the Digiday Podcast, we took an in-the-weeds look at what makes a successful podcast strategy. Jessica Stahl, director of audio at Washington Post discusses the evolution of podcasting formats, using the available podcasting metrics and more on this episode. p.s If you want to attend the Digiday live podcast event in NYC at Vox Media headquarters on Feb 7, sign up  here.

Inside the Washington Post's podcast strategy

This week, it was reported that Conde Nast is going to put all its titles behind a paywall in the U.S. by the end of the year. Internationally, however, the magazine publisher is taking smaller, more cautious steps towards reader revenue. Wolfgang Blau, president of Conde Nast International, discussed paywalls, centralization of Conde Nast International, taking a Vogue-first approach in the international market and more at a Digiday live podcast event held in London.  

Conde Nast International's Wolfgang Blau: 'Paywalls need scale'

For most publishers, the pivot to paid has meant a whole new way of working. But the Wall Street Journal has had a paywall since 1997 and they have developed and refined this muscle over years. Today, the Journal has just under 2.5 million subscribers, out of which 1.5 million are digital subscribers. On this bonus episode of the Digiday Podcast, where we invite guests to dive deep into the mechanics of products that make money, we took an in-the-weeds look at how to build a successful subscriptions business with Karl Wells, the general manager of their core subscription business.

Bonus: Inside The Wall Street Journal's subscription strategy

At a time when subscriptions are the big topic in the media industry, The Hill is going big on video. Jimmy Finkelstein, chairman of The Hill, discusses the publication's non-partisan coverage, its video ambitions and diversifying its traffic sources.

The Hill's Jimmy Finkelstein: Our priority is high-end video before subscriptions

As publishers focus on digital products -- from their sites to apps to newsletters to podcasts -- it's getting hard to operationalize the process. They face everything from broken workflows, a lack of a seamless functionality and a lack of efficiency. For Paul Ford, CEO of Postlight, publishers need to stop waiting for an innovation that will fix these issues -- and just focus on efficiency instead.

Bonus: How to build great digital products

With The New York Times's shift to focus on audience revenue, it's also put more of an emphasis on brand building. David Rubin, the first-ever chief marketing officer for the Times, is leading that charge. Rubin discusses the role of marketing in a newsroom, how the Times sees its brand around truth and the challenge of not being pigeonholed as an anti-Trump brand.

New York Times' David Rubin: Marketing has to win over the newsroom

On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, as part of five-episode series where we invite guests to dive deep into the mechanics of making products that make money, we took an in-the-weeds look at what makes a successful events business. We talk to Margaret Low, president of Atlantic Live, the events arm at The Atlantic to see how publisher built its events business, which now stands at 100 events a year.

Bonus: How The Atlantic built its events business

With publishers refocusing on direct connections with their audience, email newsletters are critical. Quartz has bet on email from its earliest days. On this limited edition episode of the Digiday Podcast, where we invite guests to dive deep into the mechanics of making products that make money, Quartz's chief product officer and executive editor Zack Seward, gave us an in-the-weeds look at what makes a great email.

Bonus episode: Inside Quartz's email newsletter strategy

On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, we recap the big themes that emerged for publishers this year, from pivoting to a reader revenue strategy to a new approach to relationships with platforms.

Pivoting from platforms to paid: The best of the Digiday Podcast in 2019

Most publishers see Snapchat as a nice-to-have but not a must-have platform. But Vertical Networks, a digital content company founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, is betting on Snapchat as showing the way to the future of mobile programming. Jesus Chavez, CEO of Vertical Networks, joins us in this episode.

Vertical Networks' Jesus Chavez on Snapchat: 'It's a great place for Gen Z'

Quartz is onto its next big move to diversify reader revenue. The publisher, which originally launched as an ad-supported model, launched a membership program in November. Lauf discusses the subscriptions business, why Quartz remained valuable as a company in the time of fire sales and more.

Quartz's Jay Lauf: Being completely ad-dependent was never good for anybody

The pivot to paid models is on. Next up: CNN, who is focusing its strategy on creating a variety of paid products for specific subsets of the CNN audience. Andrew Morse, evp at CNN U.S. and general manager of CNN Digital Worldwide, also discussed rebranding CNN Money as CNN Business, competing with platforms on technology and tools and working with advertisers who don't want to be next to news.

CNN's Andrew Morse: A paywall isn't the answer for us

Craig Silverman's stories have it all: lies, fraud and billions of stolen dollars. But they're far from a true crime podcast. The Toronto-based BuzzFeed media editor writes about fake news, the spread of misinformation on platforms and ad fraud, where every participant in the supply chain is a culprit passing on the blame. Silverman discusses the lack of incentive for marketers to speak up against ad fraud, Facebook's scale problem and more.

BuzzFeed's Craig Silverman: Digital advertising's infrastructure has been weaponized

Digital-only media brands with millions of dollars in venture capital funding have gotten a lot of attention. However, slowly but surely, they're hitting a wall. And CBS is capitalizing. Jim Lanzone, CEO and President of CBS Interactive, discusses the opportunity in OTT, original programs, reducing reliance on advertising and more on this episode.

CBS Interactive's Jim Lanzone: VC-funded digital media companies were sexy because they were new

As the end of 2018 approaches, we're also coming to the end of an era of VC-funded media companies, perhaps because the industry was not conducive for the growth demanded by venture capitalists. Steven Kotok, CEO and President of Bauer Media Group USA, says that was never the ideal model anyway. Kotok discusses focusing on the reader, the business from the newsstands, big bets in 2019 and more on this episode.

Bauer Media Group's Steven Kotok:  If we're gonna make a big bet, it should be in women's service

This year the buzz has been around subscriptions. At the most recent live podcast event for Digiday Plus members, BBC Global News CEO Jim Egan said that they're thinking about a reader revenue strategy but for now, bbc.com is an entirely ad-supported property. Egan explores the ins and outs of relying on an ad model, relationships with social media platforms, the advertiser reluctance to appear next to news content and more.

BBC's Jim Egan: Ad-supported news operation is sustainable but not future-proof

Industry Dive, an online-only B2B company based in Washington D.C., is a good proof point that the sky is not falling for all "ad-dependent" media. Founder & CEO Sean Griffey discussed the reasons why he wants to stick to the ad model for Industry Dive, stretching brands across the several industries they cover and their ability to make measured bets in their business.

Industry Dive's Sean Griffey on building a $22 million media business with no venture capital

For female media brand PopSugar, the name of the game now is profits. The 12-year-old company has finally gotten into the black, and it intends to stay there, CEO Brian Sugar said on this week's episode of the Digiday Podcast.

PopSugar's Brian Sugar on getting profitable and focusing on staying profitable

Bloomberg is not immune to the pressures of old business models, but it does have a plan. It launched a subscription offering, struck a partnership with Twitter for TicToc by Bloomberg and created a new event platform to offset the decline in digital advertising. This year, revenue growth is in the double digits. In our latest podcast, Smith discussed how TicToc by Bloomberg achieved profitability in its first year, the misnomer around the industry-wide pivot to subscriptions and why there's still room to grow in events.

Bloomberg's Justin Smith: We're projecting 15-20 percent growth

Skift CEO Rafat Ali is vocal about his beliefs about building sustainable media businesses -- and the advantages of focusing on more narrow niches than broad, general audiences. Skift is now six years old, with 60 people and revenue that's set to cross $10 million this year, Ali said. As the company grows, Ali said he focuses more on the long term. He talks about the media trends he loves and especially the ones, he hates, going into the wellness space, why he's making an acquisition and the recipe for success in media today.

Skift's Rafat Ali: 'B2B has always been about diversifying revenue streams'

CoinDesk CEO Kevin Worth discusses how they approach the coverage of crypto and where the road lies ahead.

CoinDesk's Kevin Worth: In the GDPR era, crypto may help publishers rethink audience and revenue

The Guardian has stuck to its "open" mantra by asking readers for donations instead of putting up a paywall. They have 800,000 paying members, putting The Guardian on the path to profitability. The Guardian CEO David Pemsel says while this model is working at the moment, they can't get complacent and assume that this will be recurring reader revenue.

The Guardian's David Pemsel: We can't be complacent

TV is changing in front of our eyes. From cord-cutters to cord-nevers, people are increasingly are getting their TV through streaming services like Apple TV or Roku. The future of cable TV has been in flux but Roku's gm of Roku's platform business says the cable operators are here to stay.

Roku's Scott Rosenberg: Cable operators have to innovate

Martha Stewart was an influencer before social media influencers existed. Elizabeth Graves, the editor in chief of Martha Stewart Living, says modernizing brand is work in progress but doesn't need too much effort. In our latest podcast, Graves reveals how she retains the audience who has stuck with the brand over the years while onboarding the younger demographic, taking a brand beyond personality and more.

Martha Stewart Living's Elizabeth Graves: 'The brand will always be relevant with any demographic'

Business Insider launched BI Prime in January 2018, and chief content officer Nicholas Carlson said it has a business as well as editorial incentive. Carlson also talked about their recent editorial reorganization between the BI and Insider brands, and measuring reporters' performances.

Insider Inc.'s Nicholas Carlson: Subscriptions make narrower, deeper journalism possible

Publishers are coming up with a variety of ways to support content and encourage direct reader revenue. But it all starts with building a brand that people want to pay for. Brit Morin, founder of Brit+Co and a former Google employee, has been working on that for about seven years now. But every brand's sustainability and elasticity has to go beyond a founder's career span. Morin discusses revenue, differentiating content and more on this episode.

Brit+Co's Brit Morin: Modern media brands are human brands

Hunter Walk, a partner at early stage venture firm Homebrew, says reactions around brand safety are overblown. He talks advertising, investing and the problem of platforms in this show.

Homebrew's Hunter Walk: Brand safety concerns can be overblown

Hodinkee has built a media brand around those passionate about watches. It started as a Tumblr page by Ben Clymer, who was working on Wall Street at the time. Clymer turned Hodinkee into a leading source of content related to watches and the business model has evolved from entirely depending on ad dollars to making 65 percent of its revenue from e-commerce.

Hodinkee's Ben Clymer: "Making the flip from 100 percent ads to a majority in commerce is difficult"

When Jessica Lessin founded The Information in 2013 with subscriptions as its only revenue stream, people called the idea absurd. But fast-forward five years, and the model appears to be working. Over 90 percent of The Information's revenue is now from subscriptions. It just had its most successful Q2 yet, expanded its team to 23 reporters and has pushed its coverage beyond tech.

The Information's Jessica Lessin on five years of subscription journalism

The mission for many legacy publishers is to reinvent and engage a younger demographic, including the Conde Nast title Architectural Digest, according to its editor-in-chief Amy Astley. She discusses reinventing the brand for a younger set, building a digital presence, and dealing with shrinking editorial teams.

Architectural Digest's Amy Astley: Architectural Digest isn't for 'old, rich people'

Wellness is an exploding industry, with some estimates  putting it at $3.7 trillion in annual spending. On this week's episode of the Digiday Podcast, Mindbodygreen cofounders Jason and Colleen Wachob want to put what they call an accidental media brand in the middle of the growing cultural shift to putting a premium on health, mindfulness and sustainable living.  

Mindbodygreen's Jason and Colleen Wachob on the business of wellness

Richard Gingras, vp of news at Google, discusses working with publishers, local news, advertising, and more on this episode.

Google's Richard Gingras: Platforms didn't destroy journalism's business model

Buzzfeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti talks about profitability versus growth, his company's relationship with Facebook, and more.

BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti: 'We've proven we can be profitable'

The news industry has a love-hate relationship with platforms, but for LinkedIn, that doesn't need to be the case. Roth, a former editor at Fortune, discusses LinkedIn's relationship with publishers, its differentiation from other social platforms, video and more in the episode.

LinkedIn's Dan Roth: 'We don't want to burn newsrooms'

In which NYT's global head of advertising Sebastian Tomich argues that publishers will change direction on their agency businesses. Native is not going to save publishers. Instead, agency services are sitting alongside subscriptions, display, commerce, licensing and other business lines. 

NYT's head of ads Sebastian Tomich: The role of the publisher is to sell ideas

For Complex Networks CEO Rich Antoniello, the pivot to reality in digital media couldn't come soon enough. He joined Digiday for a live podcast at the Cannes Lions festival.

Complex's Rich Antoniello: Media is a game of musical chairs with too many players and too few chairs

Facebook has rankled publishers with its political ads policy, which lumps promoted publisher content in with political advertising. For Jon Slade, the global chief commercial officer at the Financial Times, the policy was enough for the FT to pull advertising from Facebook in the U.S.

FT's Jon Slade: We stopped advertising on Facebook over political ads policy

The media industry's struggle with Facebook is increasingly looking like a "Game of Thrones" episode to Christy Tanner, evp and gm of CBS News Digital. The focus is on the wall while other armies are amassing behind you. CBS works with various other platforms, and it's seeing positive results, Tanner said.

CBS' Christy Tanner: 'Platforms are absolutely not a synonym for Facebook'

Reddit has 330 million monthly users on its platform but still struggles to woo advertisers. That's why Jen Wong, its newly minted chief operating officer, is at Cannes. She talks about Reddit's advertising ambitions.

Reddit's Jen Wong: Ads will be a big business for us

Publishers are more vocal than ever about the threat of Facebook to their industry, but Facebook is also a looming national security threat, according to New York Post CEO and publisher Jesse Angelo. Facebook will have to create better artificial intelligence than that of bad actors, which is also thorny, Angelo said in this Cannes edition of the Digiday Podcast.

The New York Post's Jesse Angelo: Facebook is a national security threat

USA Today is for "the entire United States," but that does not mean it can be "all things to all people," said Nicole Carroll, the publisher's new editor-in-chief, on this week's Digiday Podcast. As local news publishers struggle to establish sustainable business models, Carroll is finding solutions in audience, editorial focus and leveraging synergy between USA Today's local and national newsrooms. Carroll discusses USA Today's editorial approach, pushing for innovation and more in the episode.

USA Today's Nicole Carroll: 'We can't be all things to all people'

When Glamour tapped social and digital media aficionado Samantha Barry as its new editor-in-chief, she steered the team effort toward making Glamour a habit for readers online. She is building habit for Glamour among readers through differentiated reporting. Barry discusses the challenge of resuscitating a struggling print legacy brand in the digital sphere, advertising challenges with political coverage, reshaping editorial focus and more.

Glamour's Samantha Barry: Building habit trumps social hits

Digiday+ held an exclusive member event on May 23 featuring a rapid-fire discussion between Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel, Bustle CEO Bryan Goldberg and Digiday Editor-in-Chief Brian Morrissey. 

'People who suck at media use the duopoly as an excuse': Highlights from the Digiday+ member event with Dotdash and Bustle

Genius has spent the past two years expanding beyond being an annotations site to adding original video content, with series like "Verified" and "Deconstructed." But Genius is not betting on Facebook, once the go-to for publishers new to video. Instead, Genius has centered its strategy on YouTube, where it adds 150,000 subscribers a month and has 2.6 million total, according to Genius co-founder and president Ilan Zechory, this week's guest on the Digiday Podcast. Zechory discusses advertising, Genius' focus on music, its platform strategy, building a business model and more on the episode.

Genius' Ilan Zechory: YouTube, not Facebook, is our focus for video

In the pivot to subscriptions, a variety of paywall and subscription models are emerging. The Telegraph chose a freemium model to make sure visitors to the site power its advertising business, and subscribers keep coming in for distinct content. That paved the way for a freemium model that puts 15 to 20 percent of The Telegraph's content behind a paywall, with the rest free to access. The publisher's goal for 2018 is to register at least 3 million users. On this episode, Bridge discusses The Telegraph's subscription model, its relationships with the platforms and its approach to turning site users into subscribers.

The Telegraph's Robert Bridge on pivoting to a freemium model

Cheddar's Jon Steinberg is betting big on OTT bundles

It's been about nine months since Emerson Collective, a philanthropic organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, acquired a majority stake in The Atlantic. On this week's Digiday Podcast, The Atlantic's svp Hayley Romer talks about the publication's ambitions in the wake of the acquisition, growing reader revenue and the challenges of advertising.

Hayley Romer: Advertisers must choose between publishers and platforms

Talking Points Memo founder Josh Marshall started the website as a personal blog in 2000. Today, TPM is a 25-person independent publisher that's moving from an ad-dependent model to over half of revenue coming from 26,000 subscribers. Marshall discusses advertising challenges for a small publisher, downsides of venture capital, not pivoting to video and more on the episode.

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall on making subscriptions half of revenue

The New York Times has proved to be a success story for publishers contemplating a pivot to subscriptions. But HuffPost CEO Jared Grusd says a subscription business is not for everyone, particularly digital-first news media organizations. Grusd discusses broadening focus beyond the Trump news cycle, the importance of scale, HuffPost's plan for video and more in the episode.

HuffPost's Jared Grusd: Subscriptions won't work for most publishers

This week's guest is Chris Altchek, the CEO and co-founder of Mic, a news publisher focused on young people. Mic has raised nearly $60 million -- and it was one of the first publishers to talk about the pivot to video. Chris discusses whether the pivot was a mistake, figuring out Facebook, and how Mic's vertical expansion is going.

Mic's Chris Altchek: Facebook's news feed is not the place to build a loyal audience

When CEO Julio Bruno joined Time Out three years ago, it was a publishing guide for cities. Today, the company has diversified into commerce, events and operating branded food markets. Last year, the group drove 700,000 transactions, from restaurant reservations to tour bookings, and put on 250 live events. Bruno discussed Time Out's revenue streams, the publisher's plan to reach profitability, the case for continuing print editions and more in the episode.

Time Out CEO Julio Bruno on making commerce core to a media model

For Digiday's 10th anniversary, founder and CEO Nick Friese joined the Digiday Podcast to talk about the company's first 10 years and its diverse revenue streams.

'You're constantly building the plane while flying': Digiday's Nick Friese on the company's first 10 years

On this week's Digiday Podcast, Recode executive editor Kara Swisher said Facebook's relationship with the media has long been based on lip service. Swisher discusses the need for Facebook to clean up its act, whether platforms will ever pay media organizations, Recode's venture into TV and more in the episode. 

Recode's Kara Swisher: Facebook only pretends to care about the media

In the year since Axios launched, the company has raised $30 million in two rounds of funding and is already a touted news source, especially for Washington heavyweights. We checked in with Jim VandeHei, CEO and co-founder of Axios, on this week's Digiday Podcast about what has worked for the publisher and if its approach has changed since VandeHei  last joined the show in April. 

Axios' Jim VandeHei: 'Don't ever tether your business to the benevolence of another company'

In the nine months under CEO Heather Dietrick's charge, The Daily Beast has entered the competition for Donald Trump coverage with big players like The New York Times and The Washington Post. Like with other publishers, the Beast's  Trump coverage grew its audience. Yet the Beast's growth was not contingent on Facebook, and that prevented the publisher, which Dietrick said gets less than 10 percent of its traffic from the platform, from losing audience with the recent news feed changes. Dietrick, who formerly served as president of Gawker Media, spoke about Daily Beast's business growth, figuring out video, subscriptions and more in the episode.

The Daily Beast's Heather Dietrick: 'Trust in platforms is down significantly'

Imran Amed began The Business of Fashion as a blog he wrote for himself. Today, it has grown into a leading news and analysis website for the fashion industry with offices in London, New York and Shanghai. The publication has grown several revenue streams: events, online courses, a careers website and most recently, subscriptions. Amed discusses subscription strategy, events, filling a white space in the industry and more in this episode.  

Business of Fashion's Imran Amed: Subscriptions work if you know your audience

The media industry as a whole struggles to build a loyal audience for their brands. But theSkimm, which covers big national and global stories of the day, launched about six years ago with email newsletters. Now, with over 6.5 million subscribers, theSkimm is growing into a bigger brand with a loyal audience, and it all started when cofounders Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg aimed at becoming a part of people's routines. The cofounders joined us on this week's podcast.

TheSkimm founders: We want to be a routine like morning TV

Nick Thompson, editor-in-chief of Wired, recently co-authored  a story on how the 2016 election shook Facebook and catapulted them into an identity crisis. As he investigated this story over two years, it refined his own digital strategy and views towards Facebook's role in the business of news. Thompson discusses the story, what it means when the world of Silicon Valley collides with Washington, why he remains optimistic about Facebook's interests aligning with publishers' interests, and more.

Wired's Nick Thompson: Facebook needs to pivot news feed to quality

When NBA star LeBron James left the Miami Heat in 2014, 20-year-old Omar Raja searched for highlights from James' Heat career and couldn't find relatable moments outside of traditional highlights. So Raja started House of Highlights, an Instagram account that frames moments from games as funny and relatable narratives. Today, the account, which Bleacher Report acquired in 2015, has over 8 million followers, including A-list athletes like James and soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. House of Highlights has a fiercely loyal audience on Instagram, continuing to post on the platform even as its audience has grown. Raja discussed House of Highlights' reasons for sticking with Instagram, the account's focus, its evolution and more in the episode.

House of Highlights' Omar Raja: 'Instagram is the young person's television'

On this week's Digiday Podcast, YouTube network AwesomenessTV president Brett Bouttier joined us to discuss programming on YouTube and the emerging post-cable world. Awesomeness TV is doing programming for YouTube Red, but Bouttier said the platform is still in experimentation phase.

AwesomenessTV's Brett Bouttier: YouTube Red is a data exercise for YouTube

It's the year of loyalty for publishers, and as reverberations from Facebook's news feed change subside, only those that have created a need for their content will remain unfazed. At a Digiday Live Podcast event on Jan. 24, Bleacher Report CRO and CMO Howard Mittman said Facebook's community is waning, and all its changes aim to protect that owned and operated platform.

Bleacher Report's Howard Mittman: Better to be a 'need' publisher vs 'feed'

Viral content site Upworthy arrived in the media industry in 2012, popularizing the famous headline formula that came to be known as clickbait. A year in, Fast Company named it the fastest-growing media site of all time. Then, a decline in traffic occurred, as Facebook cracked down on "curiosity gap" headlines that induced clicks. But Upworthy hasn't gone away. CEO Eli Pariser joined the Digiday Podcast to discuss clickbait, riding the Facebook wave for traffic, building an ad model independent of display advertising and the Donald Trump era.

Upworthy's Eli Pariser: Facebook is like gravity

Facebook sent tremors through the media industry when it announced its  news feed change that would deprioritize publishers' content. For this week's Digiday Podcast, we talked to Meredith Artley, svp and editor in chief of CNN Digital Worldwide, before Facebook's announcement. Here's what Artley said about the platform: "The media industry collectively freaks out when Facebook makes a change that impacts your business. Well, what were you expecting? It's their platform, and they're not in the news business. We at CNN have gotten a little perturbed with those changes, but we can't put ourselves in a position that it impacts our business in a significant way because that's irresponsible of us." Artley also discussed scale, platform strategy, Donald Trump's feud with CNN and autoplay videos on the episode.

CNN's Meredith Artley: 'We don't put all of our eggs in the Facebook basket'

Last year, the big wave of pivoting to video washed over many media companies. Troy Young, global president for digital at Hearst Magazines, joined the Digiday Podcast last March and said half of Hearst Magazines' content would soon be video. This year, we invited Kate Lewis, svp and editorial director of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, on the podcast to check in with Hearst's digital operations. So far, one-third of Hearst's magazine content is video.

Hearst's Kate Lewis: One-third of Hearst's magazine content is video

Facebook and Google wrecked the media landscape in 2017, and while publishers might retrench slowly in 2018, the collateral damage has been massive. The platforms have been the breeding ground for fake news and newsroom restructurings, leading to newsroom layoffs. On this week's episode of the Digiday Podcast, Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, said Facebook is already a publisher and the need to work forward from that point of understanding.

Columbia University's Emily Bell: Facebook is reshaping newsrooms

On this episode of The Digiday Podcast, we recap the big themes that emerged for publishers this year, from Facebook to the pivot to video to the focus on subscriptions. We bring you clips from top publishers like Bloomberg's Justin Smith, Axios' Jim VandeHei and New York Times' Meredith Levien.

Best of 2017: Facebook, subscriptions and commerce were the big themes for publishers this year

HuffPost editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen recently wrapped up a listening bus tour that made stops in various cities across inland America. On this week's Digiday Podcast, she said that in her many interviews, Donald Trump's name didn't come up. Polgreen talked about how the tour will evolve HuffPost's editorial focus, the results of HuffPost's rebranding and more.

HuffPost's Lydia Polgreen: Trump is not 'topic A' for most Americans

As the new year approaches, media companies are evaluating their misses in 2017 and goals for 2018. It was a tough year for digital media, with Mashable selling for  one-fifth of its one-time valuation, BuzzFeed missing its revenue targets and frequent layoffs. At a Digiday Live Podcast event exclusively for Digiday+ members, editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey chatted with Vox Media CMO Lindsay Nelson about where the industry fell short.

Live Podcast with Vox Media's Lindsay Nelson: 'Digital media was drunk on scale'

There are many blaming digital media woes on ill-thought pivots to video and an addition to venture capital. Nonsense, according to Bustle Digital Group CEO Bryan Goldberg. The fundamental issue is there are too many digital publishers competing for what's left over from Google and Facebook. Goldberg discusses consolidation, investing in digital media businesses, the duopoly and more in this episode.

Bustle's Bryan Goldberg on digital media in 2018: 'Consolidation has to happen'

This has been yet another turbulent year in the media industry, and publishers have pivoted to wherever they found potential for ad dollars or an alternative revenue model. Some are experiencing success with subscription models, particularly those with a legacy of trust and quality associated with their names, like  The New York Times. Ken Doctor, a news industry analyst joins us on this week's Digiday Podcast to discuss subscriptions for local news publishers, FCC decisions, the problem with digital-only models, Tronc and more in the episode.

News industry analyst Ken Doctor 'People will pay for quality content'

"Social media platforms are very bad to retain the audience."

Al Jazeera's Yaser Bishr: Publishers are platform 'sweatshops'

"Just putting all of our eggs in one basket because it's the right short-term thing to do is not where we want to be."

Bloomberg Media's Keith Grossman on platforms: 'Be very wary'

Attn, the 3-year-old media brand that distributes video stories through social platforms, built itself into a short-form video giant by taking a Facebook-first approach. The publisher has tried to align its content with Facebook's interests. On this week's Digiday podcast Attn CEO and founder said that directing audience away from Facebook to owned and operated properties is a losing strategy. Segal discussed building a brand on a social feed, Facebook's new products for publishers and more on the podcast.

Attn's Matthew Segal: Directing audience to your own properties from Facebook is 'a losing strategy'

BuzzFeed food brand Tasty has reached 1.8 billion views  monthly on its Facebook videos, but it's looking increasingly beyond views to driving real-world action. Besides making food videos for social feeds, the brand is also selling merchandise like customized cookbooks. Ashley McCollum, general manager of Tasty, joins us on the Digiday Podcast.  

Tasty's Ashley McCollum: Big video view counts aren't everything

While Google and Facebook hamper publishers' efforts to grow digital ad dollars, The Washington Post CRO Jed Hartman said on this week's Digiday Podcast that publishers need to figure out their unique value and stop "whining about the platforms."

Washington Post's Jed Hartman: The industry needs to stop whining about the duopoly

The Food Innovation Group is home to legacy brands like Bon Appétit, but in the shift to digital, the magazine has become a complement to Bon Appétit's digital and social offerings. With the majority of the group's revenue now also coming from digital, it's embracing programmatic advertising. "Programmatic is an activation method versus a buying strategy. If display [advertising] is a function of getting more programmatic, there's a huge opportunity to streamline and create less friction [in transactions]," said Craig Kostelic, chief business officer of Food Innovation Group and Condé Nast's Lifestyle Collection, on this week's Digiday Podcast.

Conde Nast's Craig Kostelic: 'We're completely embracing programmatic'

The New York Times is one of a few privileged publishers that have transitioned into a subscription business, and to do this, it started behaving like a consumer brand, according to the Times' evp and COO Meredith Kopit Levien. She talks about subscriptions, advertising, differentiating from free alternatives and more on this week's Digiday Podcast.

The New York Times' Meredith Kopit Levien on driving subs and the NYT as a lifestyle brand

Politico has successfully steered its business model from advertising to subscriptions. Today, with 25,000 Politico Pro subscribers and a  90 percent renewal rate, Politico gets over 50 percent of its revenue from its high-priced subscription services. The key lies in focusing on the coverage that has been pivotal for Politico, according to Politico President Poppy MacDonald. The publisher has not wavered from its original brand of policy and politics journalism, so it's managed churn and avoided the impact of the Trump bump. Macdonald discusses subscriptions, Trump bump and more on this week's podcast.

Politico's Poppy MacDonald: We're not worried about the waning Trump bump

On this week's Digiday Podcast, Spirited Media's Jim Brady talks about building a local news media business that's sustainable. The key to economic success for Spirited Media lies in a scaled events business rather than the display advertising relied on by most publishers in local news markets.  

Spirited Media's Jim Brady: Growing audience through display advertising is 'not natural'

On this week's Digiday Podcast, Quartz's co-president and editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney defended the advertising business model and discussed the pivot to video, venturing into lifestyle and more.