The network news death spiral
PLUS: The death of the hashtag can't come soon enough.
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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The Verge: Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You’re doomed
I don’t know that I subscribe to the view in this piece that CBS News is a doomed institution no matter who runs it; in just the past 10 years we’ve seen legacy news organizations that were on the decline pull themselves out of their death spiral and return to their former glory — the two most prominent examples being the New York Times and Atlantic.
That being said, CBS News isn’t just a legacy institution, it traces its roots to an era when it literally only had two other networks — ABC and NBC — competing for audience share. Aside from some forays into live streaming, its business is almost entirely reliant on linear TV broadcasts. It’s also part of a much larger media company that knows news will never become a major profit center. Anyone who comes in to turn the news division around has an enormous mountain to climb, and I doubt Bari Weiss has the stamina or the bureaucratic know-how to climb it.
Adweek: For Substack, The Free Press’ Sale Is a Tenuous Victory
I ultimately don’t think it would be a big deal to Substack if the Free Press were to “leave” the platform (I’ll explain the quotation marks in a moment). While the Free Press does generate a not-insignificant portion of Substack’s revenue, that’s just the nature of publishing platforms — outlets will move on and off. Nobody makes a big deal when a major publisher switches from, say, Wordpress to some other CMS, so long as there are plenty of other publishers willing to move in and fill the void.
And even if the Free Press does move its paid subscriptions off Substack, my guess is it’ll still want to maintain some kind of presence there. There’s a reason more and more mainstream publishers are launching Substack newsletters: the platform delivers genuine network benefits and also serves as a key distribution hub for content. Many of the Free Press’s most ardent readers have spread out into the larger Substack ecosystem and will continue to engage with its content there. Plus, its $20 million is subscription revenue is a rounding error for Paramount, so the company may not even care if the Free Press stays on Substack.
ICYMI: Daily Detroit is proving there’s a market for local podcasts
Jer Staes monetizes his podcast through a mixture of local business advertising and paid memberships.
Bloomberg: Netflix Brings Video Games to Its TV Service for First Time
Netflix’s foray into video games has always seem half-hearted to me. It’s clear the company isn’t willing to invest the money required to build a truly blockbuster game studio, but my guess is that its gaming strategy basically boils down to making its service slightly more sticky. If even a portion of its 300 million subscribers stay on the app a little while longer to play games, then that probably helps reduce its churn rate. Other Hollywood studios have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into expansive games that ended up completely flopping, so it’s no surprise Netflix has no desire to go down that path.
(BTW, I used a gift link so you can access that article for free.)
Bloomberg: New Podcast From Twitch Streamers Is Making Over $58,000 a Month on Patreon
It seems like Vox Media, perhaps more than any other large media company, has really hit its stride with partnering with outside creators, at least in the podcast space. Its value add is that it can not only handle ad sales for independent podcasters, but also leverage its massive distribution to help them grow their audiences. In return, those creators bring their highly engaged listeners and viewers into the Vox Media ecosystem.
(BTW, I used a gift link so you can access that article for free.)
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Behind the paywall
Here’s what I have on deck for paid subscribers:
Cory Doctorow is one of the earliest members of what we refer to today as the Creator Economy.
Good riddance to social media hashtags
Live streaming is no longer just for gamers.
Let’s jump into it…