News Movement eyes profitability after exit of founders | Crime podcasts ranking
And we find out how GB News is already turning a buck in the United States
Good morning and welcome to your Press Gazette newsletter on Thursday, 15 August.
When founders leave to get paid jobs it is not a great sign for the future of start-up companies.
But social-first publisher The News Movement is eyeing profitability next year and sees a bright future despite the departures of Will Lewis and Kamal Ahmed. We caught up with editorial director Rebecca Hutson and chief executive Ramin Beheshti to find out how the Gen Z-focused newsbrand is finding that elusive audience and making money from them.
We have also found out how the expansion of GB News into America is already profitable for the right-leaning news broadcaster (albeit with a modest cost base).
And our latest dive into the world of podcasting looks at the popular true crime category.
The podcast-based investigation Serial broke new ground in 2014 when it looked into an unsolved murder, taking the audience inside the investigation in real-time.
Today podcasts are a major forum for crime-based investigations and reportage. We reveal who is leading the rankings on crime-related podcasts in the UK and find out what is working for them.
New from Press Gazette
Life after Kamal Ahmed and Will Lewis: The News Movement ‘set to reach profitability in 2025’
“We’re going to beat the revenue we did last year, and that will mean we’re well on the path to profitability.”
Independent production companies dominate true crime podcast rankings in UK
Wondery, The New Yorker and The Times share why they think the industry is taking off.
GB News America grows revenue with goal to ‘tell unheard stories’
US correspondent Steven Edginton speaks from Washington DC about his first months in the role.
Also on Press Gazette this week
Neil McIntosh resigns as Scotsman editor amid newsroom redundancies
Mill Media hires Novara’s Moya Lothian-McLean for new Glasgow title
Two news publishers have 20m+ Instagram followers: Leading UK and US titles ranked
News Corp has begun legal moves against ‘AI aggressors’, CEO reveals
Fastest-growing news publishers on Tiktok since start of 2023 revealed
Our latest podcast
Bonnier News CEO on power of bundles and personalisation
Sweden’s biggest news publisher Bonnier News has more than tripled profits in the past eight years and doubled revenue.
It now believes a subscription bundle, putting together all of its Swedish brands and harnessing AI to better personalise what users see, will be the way forward for continued revenue growth.
Bonnier News chief executive Anders Eriksson told Press Gazette UK editor Charlotte Tobitt about the business transformation he has overseen and the internal culture change needed to do so, why Nordic countries are ahead on subscriptions, and the thinking behind the bundle subscription strategy.