Media
As media revenue struggles, subscription startups see growth – TechCrunch
The COVID-19 pandemic could provide a tailwind to the subscription media model
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been a friend to the media business. Its economic impacts slashed advertising budgets, diminishing a key revenue plank for many publications. The results of falling ad spend have been felt across the industry, with a wave of layoffs hitting publications large and small, niche and general.
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Other forms of publisher income, like events, have also been reduced. But the pain of 2020’s media downturn hasn’t been felt equally in the industry. Publications that had built subscription revenue bases were in a better position to weather declines in other media incomes than peers who hadn’t; revenue diversification can provide real shelter when the economy rapidly shifts.
Subscription incomes are not enough for publications to avoid all pain; The Atlantic’s subscription base famously surged during the early months of COVID-19, but the company still saw layoffs. The Athletic’s subscription business was predicated on sports events taking place — it too underwent cuts despite a membership-first model.
In this era, the healthiest publications tend to have a subscription component. The paywalled New York Times and Wall Street Journal are hiring, as is Business Insider, which launched a membership service in 2017. But not all subscription publications that are succeeding are large. Indeed, thanks to a growing set of publisher-friendly subscription services, there are a number of options in the market for supporting publications as small as a single author.
Perhaps most famously, Substack has seen good growth in the last year. The venture-backed newsletter-and-blogging service provides authors with the ability to charge for their writing. But other startups are competing in the space, helping publications derive more income directly from readers.
Pico, which provides paid-subscription tooling for publishers, has seen strong growth in the COVID-19 era. TechCrunch caught up with its co-founder Jason Bade to chat about what his company has seen in recent months. A few months ahead of COVID-19’s arrival, publishing platform Ghost launched its paid subscription product into beta. TechCrunch asked Ghost about the reception, and growth of the membership portion of its business to better understand today’s media market.
What emerges from data and conversations concerning the startup-supported media membership landscape is something hopeful. Some writers are going to build micro-pubs that can finance their existence. Larger publications have never had more available help to wean their businesses off of ads, pageviews and Google’s favor.
New York
CNN
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Trump Media, the parent company of the former president’s Truth Social, alerted Nasdaq Inc. on Thursday of what the company suspects is illegal activity driving down the price of its shares.
In a letter to the exchange, Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media (DJT), laid out what he believes could be deemed “naked” short selling.
Naked short selling involves someone selling shares they don’t own or have not borrowed. They will often then try to buy shares at a reduced price to cover themselves. This practice is generally illegal. Whereas legitimate short sellers, people who seek to benefit from declines in the value of a company’s shares, borrow the shares before selling.
The letter was made public Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Nunes also noted in the letter that shares of the company were on a list the Nasdaq maintains that’s “indicative of unlawful trading activity.”
“This is particularly troubling given that “naked” short selling often entails sophisticated market participants profiting at the expense of retail investors,” he said.
Representatives from Nasdaq and Trump Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company, which is majority-owned by former President Donald Trump, is down by around 50% from the all-time high it set on March 26, the day after it merged with a blank-check acquisition company to go public.
Shares of company have been on a wild ride since.
Although the company is still worth billions of dollars, it is struggling to make money and needs cash. Experts have warned investors to be careful if they choose to trade the stock, because the company doesn’t have the fundamentals to back up its sky-high valuation.
Trump Media lost $58 million in 2023 and made just $4.1 million in revenue.
Shares of the company ended Friday’s session about 9.6% higher.
This story has been updated with additional developments and context.
CNN’s Nicole Goodkind contributed to this report.
Trump Media & Technology Group said it will issue millions more shares, sending its stock plunging again.
The company behind former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it is registering the resale of up to almost 21.5 million new shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants, up to about 146 million shares of common stock, and up to about 4 million warrants to purchase common stock. Certain shares held by insiders may still be restricted from trading until the expiration of a lock-up agreement 5-6 months after the date of the IPO.
New York
CNN
—
Trump Media, the parent company of the former president’s Truth Social, alerted Nasdaq Inc. on Thursday of what the company suspects is illegal activity driving down the price of its shares.
In a letter to the exchange, Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media (DJT), laid out what he believes could be deemed “naked” short selling.
Naked short selling involves someone selling shares they don’t own or have not borrowed. They will often then try to buy shares at a reduced price to cover themselves. This practice is generally illegal. Whereas legitimate short sellers, people who seek to benefit from declines in the value of a company’s shares, borrow the shares before selling.
The letter was made public Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Nunes also noted in the letter that shares of the company were on a list the Nasdaq maintains that’s “indicative of unlawful trading activity.”
“This is particularly troubling given that “naked” short selling often entails sophisticated market participants profiting at the expense of retail investors,” he said.
Representatives from Nasdaq and Trump Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company, which is majority-owned by former President Donald Trump, is down by around 50% from the all-time high it set on March 26, the day after it merged with a blank-check acquisition company to go public.
Shares of company have been on a wild ride since.
Although the company is still worth billions of dollars, it is struggling to make money and needs cash. Experts have warned investors to be careful if they choose to trade the stock, because the company doesn’t have the fundamentals to back up its sky-high valuation.
Trump Media lost $58 million in 2023 and made just $4.1 million in revenue.
Shares of the company ended Friday’s session about 9.6% higher.
This story has been updated with additional developments and context.
CNN’s Nicole Goodkind contributed to this report.
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