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How Andreas Sator built one of the most popular podcasts in Austria

I spend a considerable amount of time each month interviewing entrepreneurs who founded English-language media outlets — mostly because that’s the only language I speak — but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in the media ecosystems from other regions in the world. That’s why I was super excited to talk to Andreas Sator, the host of one of the most popular podcasts in Austria.

Andreas got his start at a major newspaper, and after a few years at the outlet, he got to experiment with writing an explainer journalism column about personal finances. He found this sort of reporting to be much more enjoyable, so in 2018 he launched a podcast that roughly translates to “Explain The World to Me.”

In our interview, we discussed the Austrian podcast market, how he monetizes the podcast, and why he decided to launch a new show about climate change.

Check out our interview in the video embedded below:

If video embeds don’t work in your inbox, go here.

If you want to listen to an audio version of this interview, subscribe to The Business of Content wherever you get your podcasts: [Apple] [Spotify] [Amazon Music]

I’m looking for more media entrepreneurs to feature on my newsletter and podcast

One of the things I really pride myself on is that I don’t just focus this newsletter on covering the handful of mainstream media companies that every other industry outlet features. Instead, I go the extra mile to find and interview media entrepreneurs who have been quietly killing it behind the scenes. In most cases, the operators I feature have completely bootstrapped their outlets.

In that vein, I’m looking for even more entrepreneurs to feature. Specifically, I’m looking for people succeeding in these areas:

• Niche news sites

• Video channels like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels

• Podcasts

• Newsletters

• Affiliate/ecommerce

Interested in speaking to me? You can find my contact info over here. (please don’t simply hit reply to this newsletter because that’ll go to a different email address. )

Quick hits

BDG has drastically reduced its content output in response to diminishing returns from platforms like Facebook and Google. This is probably a good MO for most publishers now that we're entering a post-scale era. [Digiday]

Meta's pivot from news and politics is arguably hurting right-wing media outlets far more than mainstream media — likely because these outlets utilized outrage bait to generate engagement on platforms like Facebook. That sort of engagement used to boost their posts in the Facebook algorithm, but I'm guessing they're finding it harder and harder to get visibility now that Meta is actively suppressing political content. [The Righting]

Some people try to claim that music streaming has been bad for artists, but it completely reversed the post-Napster decline in music sales and has steadily increased industry revenue ever since. [MBW] Spotify recently announced that it paid out over $4.5 billion in 2023 to just indie artists alone. I guarantee you indie artists weren't making that much in the CD era. [Spotify]

This is a great deep dive into Politico's struggles to build a global operation in the wake of its Axel Springer acquisition. [Vanity Fair]

I was interviewed about my own media business. Check it out! [Behind the Frames]

For Your Consideration advertising "is probably one of the last protected classes of advertising, because you can’t have Google steal it, Facebook advertising can’t take it, because all they want, these studios and streamers, is to reach this very specific audience." [Digiday]

I remain skeptical that there's much consumer interest in publisher chatbots. I think someone inclined to use a chatbot would be more likely to turn to a mainstream AI like ChatGPT. [Nieman Lab]

Medium is starting to crack down on AI-generated spam, which should not only improve the quality of the content, but will result in more money going to human writers. [Medium]

What most outsider art has in common. [Momentary Experts]

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