Why this business news outlet ditched advertising to focus entirely on paid subscriptions
Todd Scott believes the National Business Review's sole mission should be servicing its readers.
If you attend any media conference today, you’ll hear publishers repeat the same mantras: diversify revenue, embrace branded content, build e-commerce funnels, chase sponsorships, add newsletters, podcasts, events, memberships. The unspoken truth behind all that diversification is desperation. Advertising no longer reliably pays the bills, and most legacy publishers aren’t willing—yet—to walk away from it.
Todd Scott is the rare exception who did.
Scott runs The National Business Review, or NBR, a 55-year-old New Zealand business publication that today enjoys more than 14,000 paying subscribers, each shelling out roughly 499 NZD per year. In 2025, it’s projected to bring in $4.5 million in revenue—all of it from subscriptions.
That outcome wasn’t inevitable. Scott’s path into media—let alone into running one of the most powerful business brands in New Zealand—was wildly improbable. He wasn’t a journalist. He wasn’t an MBA. He didn’t rise through the traditional ad-sales ranks. In fact, he started as a butcher.
“I left school when I was 15,” he said. “In 1989, I actually became New Zealand Young Butcher of the Year.” He opened his own gourmet butcher shop at 19. The only reason he ended up in media at all is because he advertised his butcher shop on the radio and found himself fascinated by the medium.