Simon Owens
Verified- Freelance Tech and Media Journalist, Freelance
- Writer, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Washington, D.C.
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Tech and media journalist. Email me: simonowens@gmail.com. Full bio in link below.
Articles by Simon Owens
Is Netflix already souring on video podcasts?
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… 1: A few months ago, YouTube updated its Partner Program to require Shorts creators to generate at least 10 million views every 90 days to qualify for ad revenue sharing.
Why Spotify is struggling to grow its advertising business
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… 1: A writer for Defector wonders why The Ringer is publishing paywalled articles to Substack instead of simply hosting them behind a paywall on its own website. [Defector] My answer?
Meta is paying the price for alienating media companies
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… When the NBA teamed up with video game publisher Take-Two Interactive to launch an esports league in 2017, the idea was to replicate the traditional sports model within the world of competitive gaming.
How the NBA's esports league reinvented itself as a creator-led media company
When the NBA teamed up with video game publisher Take-Two Interactive to launch an esports league in 2017, the idea was to replicate the traditional sports model within competitive gaming. NBA teams would field esports franchises, recruiting elite gamers to compete in organized tournaments. But as the esports industry matured, it became clear that the biggest audiences weren’t necessarily tuning in to watch professional competitions.
How commerce publishers are protecting themselves from Google Zero
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… 1: For the most part, creators have to fund their own content production, which can be challenging when they want to produce more elaborate video series that require significant upfront investment.
Substack’s app is driving paid subscriptions for creators
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… Amy Suto spent years climbing the Hollywood ladder, eventually landing a writing credit on the TV series Condor.
How a freelance writer turned a job board into a thriving subscription business
Amy Suto spent years climbing the Hollywood ladder. After graduating from USC’s screenwriting program, she worked her way through a series of assistant jobs before finally earning a writing credit on the television series Condor. It was the kind of breakthrough that aspiring screenwriters spend years chasing. But by the time she reached that milestone, Suto was questioning whether she wanted to spend the rest of her career writing other people’s stories.
YouTube is poised to dominate yet another entertainment category
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… 1: ESPN is launching a new YouTube channel geared towards kids.
Should Netflix open its doors to user generated content?
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… Despite producing critically acclaimed shows like Severance, Slow Horses, and The Morning Show, Apple TV remains one of the smallest players in the streaming industry.
Can CNN reach $1 billion in subscription revenue?
PLUS: Why the founder of a popular cycling blog sold it and then left to launch a competitor 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: Sign up here Let’s jump into it… Quick hits 1: The Financial Times reported that CNN hopes to reach $1 billion in digital subscription revenue by 2030.
Traditional media companies keep setting up shop on Substack
PLUS: How a failed horror movie director co-founded one of the most popular yoga channels on YouTube 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.
What’s going on with BuzzFeed’s creator network?
PLUS: Why Apple TV is finally interested in licensing series from outside studios 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.
This former touring musician is building the next children's entertainment empire.
Benji Woerly explained how he went from touring with Eminem to growing his YouTube channel into the next Bluey. For more than two decades, Benji Woerly made his living helping some of the biggest names in music put on their live shows. As a drummer and drum technician, he toured with artists including the Jonas Brothers, John Legend, Eminem, and Selena Gomez. But eventually, he began to feel like he’d reached a ceiling.
Are TikTok-style feeds actually working for media apps?
PLUS: Spotify is moving away from podcast production. 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: Sign up here Let’s jump into it… Is Facebook now a zombie social network?
Remember when viral Twitter accounts grew into media companies?
PLUS: Does Facebook create any value for publishers anymore? 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: Sign up here Let’s jump into it… Quick hits It almost seems hard to believe that there was once a time when an entire media company could be spun out of a single viral Twitter account.
The mashup of Paramount+ and HBO Max is probably going to be messy
PLUS: Substack will now collect sales tax on behalf of its creators. 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.
The Atlantic’s CEO enters his influencer era
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… A somewhat unusual controversy has emerged at The Atlantic: its CEO, Nicholas Thompson, who ostensibly has no influence over the newsroom, has become something of a news influencer himself.
Apple’s podcast app tries to gain ground on YouTube and Spotify
PLUS: Has the Conde Nast magazine empire lost its influence? 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.
How a few local meetups spawned a B2B media company that spans across podcasts, events, and a 40,000-member Slack community
Startup CPG founder Daniel Scharff explained how the pandemic helped transform a local events company into a national community. In 2018, Daniel Scharff was working in the consumer packaged goods industry in San Francisco when he started inviting people to informal gatherings at local bars. He wasn’t trying to build a startup. He simply wanted to know more founders and operators in the CPG space. But those meetups gradually became more structured, then more ambitious.
The editorial and revenue teams at media companies should talk to each other
PLUS: Direct access to the White House has never been less relevant to producing actual journalism. 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.
Fox News isn’t just beating its competitors on linear TV
PLUS: Why are news outlets suddenly interested again in launching mobile apps? 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.
The combined Paramount-WBD needs a free streaming tier
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.
Whatever happened to CNN’s digital transformation?
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: Will Mark Thompson stay at CNN post-merger? Does he deserve to? Now that Paramount has settled its legal fight with the state attorneys general, its acquisition of WBD appears all but certain.
This company is building the world's largest platform for B2B creators
When Adam Ryan launched Workweek in 2021, he wasn’t trying to build another newsletter company. His larger bet was that trust in business media was shifting away from faceless institutions and toward individual experts — especially practitioners who actually worked inside the industries they covered. The original version of Workweek reflected that thesis.
David Ellison’s pyrrhic victory
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.
AI slop will not save legacy newspapers
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: Earlier this month, McClatchy laid off more than 90 journalists across its newspapers. In the aftermath, former staffers pointed to the company’s prioritization of clickbait blog posts over local reporting as a major source of its problems.
How a niche magazine turned print into a competitive advantage
Design Anthology was founded in 2014 around a straightforward idea: some of the most interesting design work in Asia-Pacific wasn’t getting the international attention it deserved. At the time, much of the global design conversation still revolved around Europe, particularly Italy, while architects and designers across places like China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Hong Kong struggled to break through internationally. The magazine set out to close that gap.
Meta wants to charge creators for the free content they provide
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… Last week, McClatchy announced it was laying off hundreds of staffers across all its newspapers.
Is Google now sending higher quality traffic?
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… The supposedly explosive growth of microdramas was seen as one of the few bright spots in the film industry, with some hoping the format could create jobs for workers laid off by major Hollywood studios.
The Creator Economy keeps stealing away veteran journalists
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… A pop culture reaction YouTuber with 1.3 million subscribers posted a video claiming that 60 of his videos had been temporarily removed because of alleged copyright violations. [The Verge] This isn’t a new issue.
Is CNN in even worse shape than we thought?
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.
How should TV networks structure deals with podcasters?
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… The WSJ has a great profile of an indie musician who generates north of $300,000 a year on Spotify and also regularly licenses his music to entertainment companies like Netflix and HBO.
How an Instagram meme page became a social-first entertainment empire with 95 million followers
When Reid Hailey launched an anonymous Instagram account called Shithead Steve in 2015, there wasn’t much of a business behind it. The account began as a way to joke around with friends. Then Hailey started posting memes, noticed strangers were following him, and decided to see how far he could take it. Within a year, Shithead Steve had roughly a million followers and was generating meaningful advertising revenue.
Why news outlets are suddenly launching live shows
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.
Why fashion influencers love tennis
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.
Why media outlets are investing more in longform reporting
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.
Why does YouTube want to win an Emmy so badly?
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.
How a Yankees podcast grew into a 60-person media company
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.
X hasn’t won over many mainstream creators
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.
Every streaming company suddenly wants to become a marketplace
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.
Is Patreon actually helping creators find new audiences?
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.
How 60 Minutes is being transformed by Bari Weiss
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.
Did the Washington Post finally figure out how micropayments can actually work?
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.
Why YouTube video essays keep getting longer and longer
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.
How Sony became an entertainment juggernaut
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.
What happens when content collaborators divorce?
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… Conde Nast soft launched an online retail platform that allows pre-approved influencers to essentially set up their own online storefronts — basically an upscale version of drop shipping.
Has Netflix peaked as a cultural force?
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.
How a former science YouTuber built an AI platform used by the world’s largest creators
Nate Stone was still in high school when he learned one of the creator economy’s most important lessons: a huge audience does not necessarily make for a satisfying business. At 15, he launched a science and engineering YouTube channel called Keystone Science, eventually attracting hundreds of thousands of subscribers with videos about high-voltage electricity and homemade electronics. But as the audience grew, Stone became increasingly frustrated by the demands of feeding the YouTube algorithm.
Should publishers be offering multiple subscription tiers?
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… Yesterday I wrote about YouTube’s announcement that it was doubling the viewership requirements for creators trying to enter its Partner Program.
The magazine company preparing for its post-Google future
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 Techcrunch: YouTube announced on Monday that new creators will have to meet higher thresholds to begin earning money from ads and subscriptions.
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