Welcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my media industry newsletter. If you've received it, then you either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you.

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Let’s jump into it…

Quick hits

Chris Wallace Quits CNN to Build Future in Streaming

Yet another cable news star has decided to go the independent route. Chris Wallace plans to launch his own podcast and video channel with the hope he can build a direct relationship with his audience. — Daily Beast

Exclusive: Forbes, CNN, and More Lose Millions as New Google Policy Tanks Affiliate Businesses

Major news sites are possibly being punished in Google search results for using third party affiliate partners that publish product-recommendation content. — Adweek

CNN’s Existential Post-Election Season

The biggest question for CNN as it pivots to digital is whether it can completely abandon its efforts to win the linear TV ratings wars. It has a much larger news-gathering force than either MSNBC or Fox News, which means it has a great opportunity to monetize its huge online audience. But doing so will require a drastic culture change within the company, which won't be easy to pull off. — Puck

How Reductress Became a Lasting Voice in Comedy Media

The female-oriented satire site Reductress started with a $15,000 Kickstarter fundraiser and now generates 60% of its revenue from online comedy writing classes and merchandise sales. It has 10 full-time employees. — Publish Press

A New Streaming Customer Emerges: The Subscription Pauser

Consumers are getting more and more savvy about subscribing and unsubscribing to content services based on how much they're being used. This means churn rates are increasing, but at the same time those consumers are more likely to return to a service once it starts offering content that appeals to them. — WSJ

How The Ankler converts its free audience into paid subscribers

When Richard Rushfield launched his Hollywood industry newsletter The Ankler in 2017, he ran every aspect of the business, from the content creation to the customer service. Today, The Ankler resembles a more traditional trade magazine, with a seasoned editor-in-chief and multiple staff writers.

But even though Richard took on a small amount of VC investment, most of the company’s growth has been organic, fueled in large part by an extremely successful paid subscription model.

In a recent interview, Richard walked through The Ankler’s comprehensive strategy for converting its free audience into paid. The conversation included how his staff determines which articles to place in front of and behind the paywall, why they diversified into multiple newsletters focused on specific niches, how The Ankler uses teaser content to drive conversions, and why he’s decided to stay with Substack.

You can watch, listen to, or read the interview over here.

More quick hits

He Saw Digital Media Melt Down. His Next Act? A Media Start-Up.

Former Business Insider editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson is launching a new media startup that's focused on producing highly-polished business documentaries for platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. A key part of his strategy will involve sticking to evergreen topics so that the value of the back catalog will continue to grow over time. — NYT

The making of a modern hit factory

The biggest music stars are increasingly questioning whether music labels provide enough value to deserve their substantial cut of revenue. In an era when anyone can just upload their songs directly to streaming services, what are labels for? — Financial Times

Slate Sees 7X Spike in Subscriptions Day After Trump Win

A lot of left-leaning publications sent newsletters to their audiences last week about their intention to hold the Trump Administration accountable over the next four years. It's clear that these outlets are hoping for a "Trump Bump" in subscription revenue similar to what they saw during the first Trump term. — The Wrap

Mail Online hits 100,000 paying subscribers

It's kind of impressive that Mail Online hit 100,000 paying subscribers in such a short period of time given it's only putting 1% of its stories behind a paywall and its main focus over the past 15+ years has been on churning out reams of clickbait headlines. — Press Gazette

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.)

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