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Monday 7th September: Time set to double revenue from Time 100 franchise, despite the pandemic

September 07, 2020

Here to kickstart another week is today's Media Roundup, brought to you by Esther.

Time had big ambitions for its Time 100 brand this year, expanding its summits, launching magazine specials and transforming it into a full events and membership franchise. But its in-person summits were kiboshed by the pandemic. With the Time 100 Summit, Time 100 Health Summit and the Time 100 Next Summit off the cards, the expansion plan looked set to fail.

Instead, the brand has pivoted to video and broadcast television, replacing its Time 100 Summit with Time 100 Talks: a virtual event that has since expanded into a weekly show on Time.com. Time100 is now outpacing its 2019 revenue by 37% according to Digiday, and is projecting that doubling year over year.

Few publishers will have the resources to turn cancelled events into broadcast opportunities. But this is an example of how being clever about the events format, and going beyond just a group Zoom call can reap rewards (mid-seven sponsorship figures in this case).

A good mobile experience is absolutely pivotal to the success of local news sites. Unfortunately, many have sites that are inaccessible or slow and clunky. I spoke to three up-and-coming local news sites in the US about why they are prioritising their mobile experience, and why it's important to go where your audience is.

Extinction Rebellion's escapades this weekend have certainly got the attention of the media world. More than 100 protesters targeted printing presses owned by Murdoch's News Corp on Friday evening, meaning that some national newspapers were missing from newsagents' shelves on Saturday morning. Expect plenty of debate on the rights and wrongs of their actions this week.

This is an excellent piece from Colin Morrison about the history of Mumsnet, and how despite having a loyal audience and huge scale in the UK (10 million monthly uniques), its financials have fallen far short. Morrison looks at how this 'potential powerhouse' is attempting to formulate a more robust financial strategy for the next 20 years.

This week's podcast:

In this first episode back following an… eventful summer for media, the team discusses six topics you might have missed over the past month. Get the latest on Facebook & Google vs Australia, what difference mainstream podcast coverage could make, and what media leaders make of Vogue Business' reader revenue play.

FIPP's World Media Congress is in full swing, and if you're planning on attending, you can catch me talking to Claudius Senst about how Insider Inc have charted a path to become a sustainable media company, and what they have planned next (including targeting 1 billion uniques a month!). Senst has got plenty of words of wisdom when it comes to developing consumer reader revenue streams.

(Also, FIPP have hired a theatre with a NUTS set - see how many items you can spot on the stage behind me!)