What Do Investors’ Actions Tell Us About Media’s Future?

Everybody has their own hot take on the media. The coldest eye likely comes from (or probably should come from) those who put their own money on the line. Publicly-traded media companies share a lot of mandatory financial information, but what drives the perspectives of those looking a bit further down the road, without the benefit of hindsight? What are venture capital funds or those seeking to raise new money in the media business most excited—and concerned—about today? And what might that suggest for the publishing world? In general, there's a lot of negative buzz about media by folks inside and outside the business. Conventional wisdom (surely you’ve seen it around) holds that there’s too much content out there; traditional media consumption is falling; digital advertising is damaged by a lack of transparency and standardized measurement; new business models are unsettled; the ad tech sector was way over-invested; and the FAANG companies (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) are sucking up all of the oxygen—not to mention the money. Certainly, there's a parade of scare stories for digital-native content companies, as Awesomeness was sold last year to Viacom for a price somewhere between $25–100 million, down from a $650-million valuation in 2016, Bustle Digital Group purchased Mic for $5 million (down from a $100-million valuation a year earlier) and Vice Media’s valuation has deflated from $5.7 billion to around $4.9 billion in little more than a year. Yet... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'

[ Folio Magazine | 2019-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #market ripe #high-quality news

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Martini Media Gets $14 Million in New Round of Financing

Martini Media is in the money. The digital advertising network focused on affluent Web users announced on Tuesday that it has raised $14 million in new funding. The investment will "accelerate" Martini Media's "aggressive growth strategy," per the company. Martini Media CEO Skip Brand told... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ghost in the Machine: Does Print+Ebook Bundling Have a Future?

Several publishers are finding success with print+ebook bundling, yet the industry remains reticent to embrace what seems an obvious direction for the industry. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Investors flee as bid for Barnes & Noble's stores ends

Barnes & Noble says it plans to keep making its Nook electronic readers and will focus on offering content to its customers, even as its first-quarter net loss nearly doubled.The quarterly results came as the struggling bookseller's chairman said he is abandoning his bid for the company's... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Legal action from CLA prompts councils to license

Twenty councils have taken a copyright licence following legal action over infringement by the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NewSpring Capital Leads $11M Investment in Open Road Media

E-book publisher and digital marketer Open Road Integrated Media announced that it has received $11 million in Series C equity financing led by an $8 Million investment from NewSpring Capital. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Livefyre Looks to Turn Social Media into Custom Native Ads

The Web publishing services firm Livefyre has started turning social media content into native advertising for a handful of publishers. Livefyre—which offers publishers social tools like commenting, live blogs and live chats—built Playstation-sponsored social hubs for IGN and AOL's Joystiq... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can Foreign Authors Use China’s Social Media to Acquire Readers?

China's Douban is experimenting with crowdsourced translations of English literature, including SF and short stories by David Mitchell. Can it help authors enter the market? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Cuckoo’s Calling’ Lights Up Social Media

A little mystery by a debut writer got everyone talking on social media last month, after that unknown writer was revealed to be none other than Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Summit Media Group Names New CEO

Summit Media Group has named Joseph Angel its president and CEO. He takes over for co-founder Lloyd Ferguson who will remain as a consultant after heading the company for 20 years. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomberg LP Poaches Atlantic Media's Justin Smith

Bloomberg LP has made another big raid on old media again, poaching Justin Smith from the Atlantic Media Co. to be global media CEO. Smith is the Atlantic Media president who is credited with reversing 154-year-old Atlantic magazine’s losses by advancing an aggressive, digital-first strategy. He... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Profiles in Social Media: Has Your Brand Found Its Social Soul Mate?

Much like trends in magazine publishing, social media is becoming a niche-focused market. This means there are an increasing number of networks that serve very specific functions. For instance, the difference between Instagram and Twitter is similar to the difference between a photography... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Comic-Con 2013: A look at past comic books and a glimpse of the genre's future (+video)

Gerard Jones, author of 'Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book,' explains the origins of comic books, the hardships they went through, and where they are apt to go next.  Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forbes Media Launches a Wine Club Subscription Service

Forbes Media has launched Forbes Wine Club, a new subscription and e-commerce site that connects subscribers with fine wines they are likely to enjoy. The company has partnered with Lot18 to create ForbesWineClub.com, a customizable wine buying experience. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Distribution: Lerner Partners with Scobre and Live Oak Media

Lerner Publisher Services announced exclusive partnerships with Scobre and Live Oak Media. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forbes Media pairs tech, tastes for wine club

Forbes Media is joining the wine club.In the now venerable tradition of publishers extending their brand into non-publishing businesses, Forbes has joined The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Food & Wine in starting its own wine club.But the family-controlled media... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HIMSS Media Launches News Site In Connection With Event

More and more association and b-to-b publishers are trying to link their digital content with events. It's a way to connect with an audience after they leave the showfloor, while providing one-stop, multichannel sponsorships for advertisers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agent Nicole Aragi on the Future of Literary Fiction, Translation

In an interview with Guernica magazine, literary agent Nicole Aragi discusses the crisis of literary fiction, why translated books don't sell in the US, and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Digital Publishers Can Impress Media Buyers

Digital publishers are in trouble. There is incredible competition for direct buys from agencies. This is the cash cow, and if publishers had their preference, this is where 90% of their sales would go. Ad sales is a people- and creative-driven busin ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US court throws out class-action status in Google books case, for now

A U.S. court has decided that the class-action designation of the copyright lawsuit brought against Google by the Authors Guild over the company's book-scanning project was "premature," and has returned the suit to a lower court for consideration of fair use issues.The Authors Guild filed its... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BoSacks: Media Intelligence : The New Non-Obsolescence of the Written Word

By Robert M. Sacks A book that I read a few years ago has been popping back into and around my head lately, as I continue my pursuit of the future of reading and the future of our publishing business. The Swerve ,... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2013-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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