Simon Owens's Media Newsletter

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. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: In today’s issue, we discuss how Puck will earn its $250 million valuation, why magazines like Slate are commissioning more longform pieces, and how Netflix made documentaries mainstream.

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. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: In today’s issue, we discuss why musicians like Harry Styles are embracing residencies, whether BuzzFeed was always doomed to fail, why YouTube really wants an Emmy, and the Wall Street Journal’s decision to allow AI-written op-eds.

Jomboy Media began with a simple premise: build an audience first and figure out the business model later. In 2017, Jimmy O’Brien was a Yankees fan living in California who wanted more people to talk baseball with. He started building an audience on Twitter, launched the Talkin’ Yanks podcast with his best friend Jake Storiale, and soon received a $20,000 investment from a friend that allowed him to quit his job. Another $20,000 followed when Storiale joined full time.

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. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: Let’s jump into it… From the Wrap: HuffPost’s National desk has been reduced to three reporters as BuzzFeed’s latest round of layoffs took effect Monday. Management laid off 10 members of the HuffPost Union in total.

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. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: Let’s jump into it… That’s the interesting question contemplated in this Trapital post: Netflix’s biggest competitor is now YouTube. Netflix’s push into video podcasts reflects that.

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.

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. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: Let’s jump into it… While Netflix continues to duke it out with YouTube, and streamers like Paramount and Peacock fight over the leftover scraps, Amazon is quietly capturing a larger and larger share of the streaming market.

For decades, micropayments have occupied a strange place in the publishing industry. The idea has always sounded appealing: instead of forcing every reader to buy a recurring subscription, allow them to pay a few dollars to read a single article or gain temporary access. Yet most experiments never gained much traction. Payment friction was too high, the economics were questionable, and publishers worried that cheaper alternatives would cannibalize their subscription businesses.

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. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: Let’s jump into it… Over the past year, several book releases have been canceled over suspicions that the authors used AI at some point during the writing process.

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. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: Let’s jump into it… From the Verge: YouTube will soon count a view as soon as a video starts to play, lining up with the system used by Instagram, TikTok, and its Shorts videos.