The Business of Content with Simon Owens

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ When Minute Media launched 15 years ago, it was essentially a platform for soccer fans to publish their own content. Over the next decade, it evolved into a sports media conglomerate, acquiring properties like The Players' Tribune and FanSided before taking over operations of Sports Illustrated. But its most interesting evolution has arguably been on the technology side. The company, which recently shortened its name to Minute, began licensing the publishing tools it had developed for its own media properties to other publishers. Rather than charging hefty software fees, it offered those tools for free in exchange for a share of the advertising revenue they generated. Today, Minute's business is split roughly evenly between its consumer-facing media properties and its B2B technology division, the latter of which generates nine figures in annual revenue. In a recent interview, Minute president Rich Routman walked me through the company's evolution and explained how it's adapting to a media landscape increasingly dominated by platforms that don't send traffic back to publishers. We discussed why Minute's revenue-sharing approach succeeded where other publishers' technology licensing businesses struggled, how Sports Illustrated diversified its revenue to the point where its website and print magazine account for just 20% of its business, and why Minute sees partnerships with creators as a major growth opportunity.  

Democrats scored sweeping victories in the midterm elections, handing them control of both chambers of Congress and significantly weakening Donald Trump's political influence. But what will this shift in power mean for the media industry? For starters, media executives who spent the past two years cozying up to Trump could soon find themselves hauled before congressional committees to answer uncomfortable questions about their business dealings. Meanwhile, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr may find that his threats against broadcasters no longer carry the same weight. And the election results could further accelerate the rise of a Democratic media ecosystem that's increasingly capable of competing with traditional news outlets for audience attention. To discuss these developments, I invited back Jason Krebs, a longtime media executive who's held senior roles at companies including Google, The New York Times, and Disney. We talked about how the election could reshape the relationship between Washington and major media companies, why independent news creators are becoming an increasingly important force in political coverage, and whether the poor performance of prediction markets on election night will cause news organizations to rethink their lucrative partnerships with gambling platforms.  

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ In 2007, Jonathan Thomas launched Anglotopia, a niche website dedicated to British culture, history, and travel for an American audience. What started as a side project quickly grew into a thriving media business, fueled by traffic from Google and Facebook. By 2011, Anglotopia was generating more revenue than Thomas earned at his day job, allowing him to pursue it full-time. But as Facebook began throttling referral traffic and Google search traffic steadily declined, Thomas was forced to rethink his entire business model. Today, Anglotopia has evolved into a diversified media company that generates revenue from paid memberships, book publishing, and marketing partnerships. And despite losing the vast majority of its website traffic, it continues to serve a loyal audience that includes 50,000 email subscribers. In a recent interview, Thomas explained how he transformed nearly two decades of evergreen content into a profitable book publishing business, why he abandoned advertising in favor of paid memberships and direct audience relationships, and how he's adapting to a media landscape in which Google and Facebook can no longer be relied upon to drive growth.  

Instagram is making another push into longform video, hoping to convince YouTubers and podcasters to upload their content to its platform. There's just one problem: Unlike YouTube, Instagram has no established revenue-sharing program that would compensate these creators for the advertising revenue their videos generate. Instead, Meta seems to be betting that the promise of exposure will be enough to attract creators who are already monetizing their content elsewhere. But will that strategy actually work, or will Meta eventually be forced to share more of its revenue with the people who make its platforms valuable? To discuss this, I invited back Jason Krebs, a media industry veteran who's held senior positions at companies like The New York Times, Google, and Disney. We discussed why Meta has been so reluctant to embrace revenue sharing, whether that strategy has contributed to its negative public reputation, and what it would take for the company to finally change course. We also turned our attention to Netflix, which has experienced some executive upheaval as it struggles to keep subscribers engaged with its content. With YouTube capturing an increasingly large share of television viewing, Netflix has been experimenting with new formats like video podcasts in an effort to compete. But is the company doing enough to adapt to a world where consumers have access to virtually unlimited free entertainment? Jason and I debated whether Netflix should introduce a completely free, advertising-supported tier, whether it should open its platform to user-generated content, and what its future might look like as it evolves from a high-growth technology company into a more traditional media business.  

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/ When Nicole Hunn launched the blog Gluten Free on a Shoestring in 2009, she wasn't a professional chef or an experienced media entrepreneur. She was a recently laid-off lawyer who had spent years experimenting with gluten-free recipes after her son was diagnosed with celiac disease. Frustrated by the high prices and poor quality of gluten-free products, she saw an opportunity to build a business around helping families like hers. Nearly two decades later, she's built a thriving recipe website supported by programmatic advertising, amassed an email list of 130,000 subscribers, and published six cookbooks. But like many independent publishers, she's also had to contend with unpredictable platform algorithms, declining referral traffic, and the challenges of diversifying beyond advertising revenue. In a recent interview, Hunn explained why traditional cookbook publishing never generated the kind of revenue she'd hoped for, how Google's changing search ecosystem has forced her to rethink her business strategy, and why she's now betting on direct-to-consumer products to build a more sustainable future.