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Let’s jump into it…

Quick hits

Google Discover has become Reach’s ‘biggest referrer of traffic’

Oh look, Google's created yet another traffic spigot that will distract publishers from forming actual meaningful relationships with their core audiences, all so they can serve low-quality programmatic ads to visitors that immediately bounce off the page. [Press Gazette]

Tired of Recycled Guests, Podcasters Aim to Reinvent the Format

Apparently the largest podcast hosts are tired of having on guests who are only there to promote something. What ends up happening is the same guest is interviewed across dozens of podcasts in a short period of time, making it harder for any one interview to stand out. [Bloomberg]

How an indie filmmaker raised $1.7 million in micro-funding from the public

A Hollywood production company that's played a role in creating over 100 films — including Wall Street and American Psycho — has raised $1.7 million in a crowdfunding campaign to develop its next slate of films. Yes, filmmakers have been doing this on Kickstarter for years, but this model actually distributes equity to the funders. [Media Mix]

The 51st: Building a worker-led newsroom from the ashes of DCist

I love it when laid-off journalists band together to create a worker-owned news cooperative. Several laid-off DCist staffers raised $276,000 in a crowdfunding campaign and launched the 51st. Right now, they're paying themselves an hourly rate as they haven't generated enough revenue yet to all come on full-time. [E&P]

Why YouTube and TikTok Are Pushing Live Tipping

What motivates a fan to tip a creator during a live stream?

“It's all about targeting the reward center in a viewer's mind,” said Or Perry, CEO of StreamElements, a platform that helps creators connect with brand sponsorships. “The gifter now has the right to brag—peacocking of some sorts—because they now conquer the leaderboard. They will celebrate it on screen.” [The Information]

One of YouTube's biggest channels is opening a massive production studio

A YouTuber who specializes in creating scripted dramas aimed at a tween audience is generating upwards of 2 billion views per month. His "aim was to capture the market of kids who might have turned to Disney Channel or Nickelodeon a decade ago, but now flock to YouTube for their entertainment. He is especially focused on appealing to young girls." [Usermag]

The Podcast Election

Scott Galloway claims the three podcasts he operates will generate $10 million in 2025. "We employ five producers, two analysts, and a technical director/sound engineer. Few businesses garner $1m+ per employee." He also says that Pivot, the Vox Media podcast he co-hosts with Kara Swisher, will generate even more revenue. [Scott Galloway]

Why Traditional Media Can’t Have Its Own Joe Rogan

One thing that's getting lost in all the discussion around how liberals can prop up "their own Joe Rogan" is that the "Manopshere" podcasts are mostly non-political. If Kamala had wanted to sit down for interviews with a lot of left-leaning comedians and influencers who would have asked her mostly softball questions, she absolutely could have done that. I'm skeptical that this would have won her the election — I actually thought she ran a very good campaign — but I do agree that this was low-hanging fruit she probably should have capitalized on. [CJR]

Dude Perfect’s Path to $1 Billion

Dude Perfect is attempting to grow from a YouTube channel to a multi-pronged media conglomerate that includes everything from an in-person theme park to apparel to a streaming app that carries content from other creators. [Publish Press]

How Philip Taylor built FinCon, the leading conference for personal finance creators

Today, the personal finance content niche is absolutely ginormous. You can’t open up YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram without encountering an influencer who gives advice on how to make and save money.

Philip Taylor anticipated this content explosion all the way back in 2011. That’s when he launched FinCon, a conference specifically designed for personal finance content creators. That first year he attracted around 250 attendees, but over the next decade it grew into the largest conference in this niche, with over 3,000 tickets sold.

In a recent interview, Philip walked us through how he got into the personal finance space, his strategy for growing the conference, and his ambitions for launching similar conferences in other niche categories.

You can check out the interview over here.

More quick hits

The Most Coveted Screenshot in the Literary World

Publishers Marketplace is one of the rare text-based publications that is consumed mostly by screenshot. It has a hard paywall, which means most people outside the book publishing industry won't access it directly, but nearly every author posts a screenshot to social media of their book deal announcement. [The Atlantic]

Tubi hops on the short-form video bandwagon with its ‘Scenes’ feature

There's an entire cottage industry of TikTok videos, Reels, and YouTube Shorts that simply consist of scenes ripped from TV shows and movies, so it's cool that a streaming app is copying this format to drive awareness of its own content library. [TechCrunch]

Despite gains among its rivals, Twitch still accounts for 82% of streaming hours

It's pretty incredible that Twitch has maintained its competitive edge in live streaming despite a video giant like YouTube trying very hard for years to eat into its market share. [Tubefilter]

Why More Companies Will Hire Creators in 2025

Brand social media accounts are typically run by faceless marketing staffers, but we're seeing a new trend where companies will hire an in-house creator whose face and personality is injected into the brand's content. [The Information]

Exclusive: Inside Paris Hilton's booming media business 11:11

I don't think I realized that Paris Hilton still had this much cultural relevance. "The bootstrapped firm, launched in 2021, expects to earn around $50 million in revenue this year with more than a 50% profit margin." [Axios]

Scoop: Apple is selling Apple News ads directly for the first time

Apple News is one of the largest news apps in the world, and yet its ad revenue share has been negligible for most publishers, mostly because Apple leadership has historically considered ad targeting to be in conflict with its user privacy principles. My guess is that the recent growth in App Store advertising revenue is finally nudging the company toward embracing the business model. [Axios]

YouTube Is Bigger Than Spotify and Apple for Podcasts, Research Finds

I don't doubt that YouTube is a major force in podcasting, but I think these studies paint a misleading picture of podcast consumption. My guess is that YouTube beats out Spotify and Apple in terms of the total number of podcast consumers, but these platforms probably far outperform YouTube when it comes to hours spent consuming podcasts. Most watchers/listeners of YouTube podcasts come via search or algorithmic recommendation, which means they're much less likely to actually subscribe to the podcast. [The Wrap]

Do you think Ben Affleck knows about fanfiction?

Fan fiction is a much bigger content niche than most people realize, and most of it is completely unmonetized because it exists in a legal gray zone.

"There are more than 12.5 million stories on Archive of Our Own, the go-to fanfiction website. The site itself is visited more than one billion views per month, according to SimilarWeb ... The second most-read story on AO3 is called Manacled. It’s a 350,000 word novel (about 1,175 pages making it longer than Ulysses) set in the world of Harry Potter and focused on the relationship between Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. Manacled has had more than 9.5 million reads since it was originally published in 2018. It has been translated into more than 20 different languages." [Posting Nexus]

Google is further cracking down on sites publishing ‘parasite SEO’ content

This is bad news for lazy publishers that outsource their affiliate content to sleazy outside networks. If you're going to recommend products to your audience, you should actually put in the work of testing and reviewing those products. [The Verge]

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