#MediaRevenue - David Clinch

Welcome to my weekly round-up of all things #MediaRevenue. I skipped last week as I have been very busy launching some major new initiatives to bring together Reader Revenue, Ad Revenue and AI Licensing Revenue under one Dynamic Revenue Engine for news publishers.

More on that soon but email me if you want to see what we are building.

I have also been spending some time curating news on Bluesky and assessing whether it can be the platform for live news, and for the monetization of authoritative journalism, that Twitter once promised to be. Follow me there.

If you need help navigating the threats and opportunities that AI represents for your news organization, let me know: [email protected]

Here are the top #MediaRevenue stories from this week ->

Monetising digital audiences: A call for alignment across strategy, teams, and tech: Mather Senior Managing Director, Pete Doucette, explains how publishers can address digital revenue challenges. Below is an illustration of a publisher tech stack that maximises total digital revenue. - Press Gazette via Peter Doucette

Innovation meets litigation: How media companies are tackling AI’s complex impact: "Some of the first media companies to strike deals with OpenAI say they’re getting ready to release new AI-enabled features that aim to benefit readers, publishers and advertisers. One of the latest examples is Dotdash Meredith, which used AI to create a new way to target readers with contextual ads." - Digiday.

Canada’s leading news media companies launch legal action against OpenAI: "Torstar, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, and CBC/Radio-Canada today filed a?legal action?against OpenAI." - Globe and Mail.

Google search change hits publisher e-commerce revenue: "Likes of Forbes, AP News, CNN, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal affected by site reputation abuse update." - Press Gazette.

Future CEO says Google update has not harmed affiliate revenues: Future announced in October that Steinberg was stepping down as CEO after a year and a half in the role. But he emphasised this morning that he has a year’s notice period and would be staying in post for some time to come whilst a successor is appointed and the handover period completed. Asked about recent Google changes which have downgraded the visibility of recommended product pages and vouchers for many publishers, hitting e-commerce revenue, Steinberg said he was confident Future would not be affected. - Press Gazette.

Amazon eyes news partners for revamped AI Alexa voice assistant: "Amazon is reaching out to news publishers about opportunities to license their content for the next generation of Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, slated to debut next year, Axios has learned. The company plans to debut a new, smarter version of Alexa, using generative AI to power customized responses to real-time user queries about the news." - Axios.

Hearst Magazines lays off nearly 200: “Hearst Gives Thanks With Layoffs” - Intelligencer/NY Mag.

Vox Media Announces Layoffs, Reorganizes Its Lifestyle Properties: "The changes will primarily affect the titles Thrillist, PS (formerly PopSugar), and Eater, as well as the media production and technology team, chief executive Jim Bankoff wrote to staff on Thursday." - AdWeek.

Tegna laying Off Hundreds in Favor of ‘Centralization’: “Building a sustainable future for local news is hard…” - FITS News

Scott Trust approves sale of The Observer to Tortoise Media: "Tortoise Media said it has raised ￡25m to invest in turning The Observer into a standalone print product with a paywalled website. The Observer and Tortoise will combine into one newsroom." - Press Gazette.

The Verge now has a subscription: "A lot of our site will remain free, but you can now pay to get fewer ads and unlimited access to all of our work." - The Verge.

Time CEO Jessica Sibley says B2B shift is working for 101-year-old brand: "Time has gone through a "pretty significant transformation", dropping its paywall and going bigger on events." - Press Gazette.

Mediahuis CEO Gert Ysebaert in conversation: 'We also recognize that not every reader will subscribe, and it's essential to have a strategy for monetizing the time and attention of those who prefer free content. For these readers, we’ll maintain a free model, although this approach may vary across different news titles." - The Drum via Mark Challinor and Gert Ysebaert

The Lost Angeles Times: "In an interview with Status, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong demonstrated that he is editorially inept." - Status News via Oliver Darcy

BuzzFeed Is Facing a $124 Million Debt Crisis: "The digital media company BuzzFeed Inc., which owns BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and the properties Tasty and First We Feast, is facing a potential $124 million debt crisis related to funds it raised in June 2021 to finance its acquisition of Complex Media." - AdWeek.

Start-up ProRata.ai valued at $130mn after signing up UK publishers: "Groups including Guardian and Daily Mail agree licensing deals to ensure payment for content." - FT.

In news deserts, Trump won in a landslide: "The report found that the highest concentration of counties with limited access to local news?were in solidly “red” states, such as Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Idaho, Montana and Mississippi." - Local News Initiative

"Democrat propaganda": Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to team up with Musk to defund NPR: "We'll be looking at everything from government-funded media programs like NPR that spread nothing but Democrat propaganda...all kinds of programs that don't help the American people." - Salon.

How Infrastructure is Foundational to Local News: "...more infrastructure is needed to make it easier to launch and sustain a newsroom long-term. That’s why Press Forward dedicated its second open call to invest up to $20 million in this area. We talked to four key funders to get their take on how they define infrastructure and their key investments so far. - Press Forward via Mark Glaser