Hi all, and welcome to On Background, my weekly media newsletter. This is Mark Stenberg, reporting from the ADWEEK offices in Manhattan. You have probably heard the phrase “four seasons in a day,” but last week New York introduced its own riff on the concept: “three apocalypses in a week.” The weather in the city has been historically miserable of late, with torrential flooding, toxic smog, and a blistering heat wave all combining to corral folks indoors just as outdoor season reaches its peak. Happily, some marquee films hit theaters just in time. On Thursday, I had the privilege of catching an early screening of The Odyssey in 70 millimeter IMAX, courtesy of Screenvision, and on Monday, I caught a preview of the upcoming A24 Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony, thanks to Caper. Both were brilliant, and welcome respites from the weather, but I have to say: I was shocked to find Tony far more engrossing than The Odyssey, despite everyone knowing how they both end. I am no doubt going to be in the minority, but I think A24 and Dominic Sessa managed to create a film that, in capturing a specific moment in the life of its protagonist, reflects the universal experience of discovering who you are while working a summer job. In my feature tonight, a newsletter publisher undergoes a similar journey of self-actualization. The Daily Upside, which financial analyst Patrick Trousdale launched as a passion project in 2019, is transforming from a scrappy outfit into a proper media operation, appointing a new chief executive, hiring a chief revenue officer, and launching a suite of new products. Most notably, as the publisher tracks toward a 40% year-on-year increase in revenue, Trousdale plans to step away. More on that below. In Talking Heds, I rounded up a handful of the most notable developments in the media industry, including an exclusive on a forthcoming expansion from Politico Pro, The Wall Street Journal confirming my Google reporting from earlier this month, and OpenAI breaking open the piggy bank for journalism, among other notes. Below that, be sure to check out my interview with Jon Miller, CEO of Integrated Media Company and an advisor on the joint board, along with CAA, deploying the recently announced $250 million creator economy fund. According to Miller, they are favoring premium YouTube creators, those that make up the “HBO” of the creator space. Finally, at the bottom of the newsletter, you can find my favorite pieces of reporting from the last few days, which this week come from Business Insider, The Cut, Cosmopolitan, and Bloomberg BusinesswDivneyeek. As always, if you were forwarded this newsletter or are otherwise not subscribed, you can click here to do so for free. If you have thoughts, tips, or feedback, please shoot me an email at mark.stenberg@adweek.com or reach me on Signal at 210-705-3284. |
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Politico Prose (EXCLUSIVE): Next month, Politico is debuting four new energy and environment newsletters on the same day, Aug. 31, alongside a retooled Morning Energy anchoring the lineup. The investment in the roster, which includes Surge, State Power, Power Moves, and Morning Environment, is, in part, a response to the increased demand from Politico Pro subscribers for such content: From July 2025 to June 2026, Pro Energy saw readership more than double, increasing 113%, according to a spokesperson. With the Iran War spiking oil prices, data centers guzzling electricity, and global warming upending historic climate patterns, the Axel Springer outlet is betting that interest in energy policy and climate economics will only increase in the coming years. Google Goners: Earlier this month, I reported on the fascinating, if once unimaginable, trend of publishers preparing to opt out of Google Search. On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal confirmed much of my reporting, speaking with executives from USA Today, Politico, the Economist, People Inc., and Reuters who were weighing their options. The report also flagged that Reddit, which signed a $60 million-a-year deal in 2024 that allowed Google to use its material to train its AI models, is also reconsidering whether it wants to renew that agreement. No single publisher has as much leverage in these negotiations as Reddit does, which would make its involvement notable. Although Reddit differs in significant ways from most websites, primarily in that it relies on user-generated content and does receive some compensation from Google, the platform is the latest website to realize that the current state of search is untenable for almost everyone involved. Could Wikipedia be next? Fox Won: Did you, like me, sign up for Fox One to watch the World Cup? If so, you are in good company. According to data from the measurement firm Antenna, Fox One added 2.8 million sign-ups in June. That’s more than 2.5 times its previous best of 1.1 million in January, which coincided with the NFL Playoffs. The opening day of the tournament, June 11, drove 400,000 sign-ups on its own and 93% of its June gross additions were new subscribers. The sign-up news comes on the heels of some jaw-dropping Nielsen data, which found that the World Cup Final drew more than 62.8 million viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched World Cup final and soccer telecast in American history. Given that Fox got a massive discount on these World Cup rights, paying only $485 million to broadcast it, it is safe to say that the entire event was a financial windfall for the company. OpenAI’s Chump Change: On Tuesday, OpenAI announced its plan to renew its investment in the American Journalism Project by committing an additional — wait for it — $5 million in funding and $3 million in tech credits to the organization over the next two years, according to Axios. There was a time, when I was a younger reporter, that I would have celebrated such efforts, but now I can hardly contain my indifference. A few million dollars, over two years, from a company hurtling toward a trillion-dollar valuation hardly inspires adulation. In fairness, OpenAI is simply running a playbook perfected by Google, which for years kept local news publishers on a steady drip of financial support. The goal of these programs, to be clear, is purely optical: The money is too insubstantial to affect actual change, but visible enough to serve as a talking point in courtroom litigation. FAST BI: Business Insider is coming to a television near you. The publisher, which has a massive footprint across YouTube that totals 38 million subscribers across its channels, debuted both a standalone streaming app and a FAST channel on Tuesday. At launch, the FAST channel will only be available on Xumo, my favorite platform, but has plans to expand to other FAST platforms in the near future, according to a spokesperson. The move, supported by the supply-side platform Magniate, is a no-brainer: For publishers with massive volumes of video inventory, as BI has, making that content available in more surfaces across the CTV ecosystem helps it reach new audiences and generate passive revenue. For all the headwinds BI has faced in the last year, its YouTube presence is a real asset, and it is heartening to see it make better use of it. Hearst Hire: On Tuesday, Hearst Magazines named Chris Berend as its chief content and experience officer, a newly created role. Berend joins Hearst Magazines, which houses titles like Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and Good Housekeeping, from NBCUniversal News Group, where he was its chief digital officer. The inclusion of the “experience” element of the title caught my eye, as it signals just how core to editorial strategy events and in-person activations have become in recent years. It will be exciting to see if Berend can supercharge a Magazines group that has ample brand recognition but waning influence with its core demographics.
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Jon Miller is the chief executive of the Integrated Media Company, a media company funded by the private equity giant TPG that has a portfolio of media brands including Fandom, TV Guide, Footballco, and Screen Junkies. In June, TPG partnered with the talent agency CAA to launch a $250 million fund earmarked for investment in the creator economy. Miller sits on the advisory board of the fund, called Compound, and will help deploy the capital—one of the largest investments in the creator economy to date. This interview has been edited. Mark Stenberg: Give me the high-level pitch on Compound. What are you looking for when you evaluate creator companies, and what made now the right time to launch this? John: I’ve believed in the creator economy for a long time. I was an early investor in Maker Studios, but it was too early because the monetization wasn't there yet: marketers weren't supportive, commerce hadn't matured, and the platforms hadn't figured out how they felt about creators. Fast forward to today, and all three of those things have matured into something investable. That's the premise behind Compound. Mark: Where does Compound want to sit in the market? Early-stage creators, or the biggest names that already exist? John: At least initially, it's the latter. We're investing in folks and businesses that clearly have some traction and momentum. We want to be at the higher end of the market—almost like how HBO positioned itself against the rest of television—and look for high-quality businesses and personalities we can become partners with. Mark: Fox has done something similar through its Creator Studios program. How is Compound's approach different John: I think what Fox is trying to do in the creator space is focus on creator-based IP and talent in specific IP roles. We're not opposed to that, but our primary focus is on the businesses themselves. The creator business itself may have IP associated with it, but we're investing in the underlying business, not directing the IP. Mark: You've said this is part of a bigger trend beyond just Compound. What does that look like? John: If you step back, creators, indies, whatever you want to call them, are taking greater share of each market they're in. Indie games are growing faster than AAA games. Fan fiction is growing faster than traditional publishing. This is a long-term global trend, driven by the rise of platforms, the tools that enable creation, and their falling cost. Mark: Do you see any of the creator businesses you’re hoping to invest in becoming billion-dollar companies John: Billion feels a little far off. I'd like to see some businesses we're thinking about get into the nine figures—they're not there today. Billion's hard. I don't think we're underwriting that yet. |
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THE LEDE: At The Daily Upside, a Founder Steps Back As Growth Accelerates The newsletter outlet, projecting 60% revenue growth, is debuting a slate of executive hires and editorial products as it grows beyond its startup roots |
The Daily Upside, a growing portfolio of financial newsletter products, is entering a new phase of its business, according to founder Patrick Trousdale. As part of the evolution, Trousdale, who founded the newsletter in 2019, is stepping back from day-to-day operations, a shift that began last summer. He plans to stay involved as an advisor and is starting a new, adjacent project in the advisor-media space, though he declined to offer further details. “I am leaving on great terms,” said Trousdale. “The business has never been stronger and it is in great hands.” Last year, after a series of personal circumstances sidelined Trousdale over the summer, chief operating officer McKay Murphy steered the company through the best fourth quarter in its history. Following the strong performance, Trousdale named Murphy as CEO earlier this spring, facilitating his transition away from the operation. Before joining The Daily Upside three years ago, Murphy had worked at a variety of media companies, including most recently Morning Brew and Stitcher. This year, The Daily Upside is pacing toward $6.5 million in revenue, split between roughly $5.8 million from its newsletter business and about $600,000 from non-newsletter sources, such as events and lead-generation products, according to Trousdale. The company is projecting revenue growth north of 60% for the year and is aiming to double its business-to-business revenue. It has not raised outside investment, is profitable, and the total staff numbers around 25. To accelerate the growth, the company has also brought on two new senior hires: Catherine Divney, who will serve as its first chief revenue officer, beginning July 27, and Carmen Starns, who joined as its new head of operations earlier this month. Prior to joining The Daily Upside, Divney most recently served as the CRO for the travel, finance, and auto sub-verticals at People Inc. Starns, who joins from 6AM City, was its vice president of revenue operations. Prior to Divney joining, Trousdale had handled much of the partnership and revenue work himself. The growth push is primarily centered on the company's B2B offerings. Its flagship newsletter, The Daily Upside, is aimed at retail investors and reaches an audience of roughly 1 million. Its B2B arm, the Advisor Upside vertical, caters more specifically to financial advisors. Its newsletter product, Advisor Upside, has more than 100,000 subscribers and includes two sub-verticals: ETF Upside, which has about 30,000 subscribers, and Retirement Upside, which has about 15,000. In total, the Advisor group now has six full-time editorial staffers. In the coming months, the company plans to expand even further. This fall, the publisher is launching a CFO-focused publication, after its audience data indicated a high readership among accountants and other financial operators. To build out the vertical, the company plans to repeat its standard procedure: hire a leading journalist in the space, then build coverage around them. The publisher launched a weekly podcast for the Advisor vertical two months ago, which includes a video component whose clips it is distributing on LinkedIn. It is also pushing into video and events more broadly, experimenting with virtual webinars as it explores moving into in-person events if the format proves successful. Taken together, the expansion marks the growth of yet another highly targeted newsletter publisher, further proof that the bulk of sustainable growth in the digital media sector is coming from lightweight, business-oriented operations. The Daily Upside has also employed a talent-centric approach, building its verticals around highly visible journalists who are experts in their subject matter. While the first component helps draw in advertisers, the second element draws in audiences, who respond more enthusiastically to trusted, individual creators. The business is still comparatively small, and a change of leadership is always a delicate moment. But the publisher has built a solid foundation for growth as it transitions into its next chapter. |
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“Look, at the end of the day, we're very pro-choice. We openly state that our products are addictive.” |
— Lorenzo De Plano, the CEO of a conservative alternative to Zyn, on the rise of the pouch READ MORE |
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“Bro just love your girl, and do what you can. If she’s taking you with her on the trips, you’re gucci.” |
— Reddit commenters, comforting a young man who makes less money than his girlfriend READ MORE |
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“This is a modern spin on being a traditional columnist. I think it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” |
— Julia Mervis, Cosmopolitan’s first social-only columnist, on the role READ MORE |
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“Everything is a grift, and everyone is a grifter." |
— Bloomberg Businessweek, introducing its Golden Age of Grift package READ MORE |
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Mark Stenberg is Adweek's senior media reporter covering the business of digital and print media and publishers, including their advertising, marketing and editorial strategies. Before joining Adweek Mark was a reporter for Business Insider. | |
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