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Politico energy restructure pays off | Forbes goes into retail with wine launch
Plus interview with Tollbit co-founders and double-digit declines at many US news websites.
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Welcome to the Press Gazette Future of Media US newsletter on Friday, 17 April.
🔋You may have expected the Iran war to boost US news website traffic, but in fact more than half of our top 50 were down by double digits year on year in March.
One of the few growers was Politico, with Similarweb visits up 2% compared to last year and up 9% month on month.
This appears to be partly due to timely changes in its energy and environment reporting teams.
In February the dozen Politico Pro Energy journalists merged with the several dozen working on E&E News, acquired by Politico in 2020.
Audience growth for both free and subscriber energy coverage has significantly outpaced the growth at Politico overall, suggesting it’s more than just interest in the war that has helped.
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📰 Politico owner Axel Springer is about to fulfil a 22-year long dream: owning UK newspaper The Telegraph.
Axel Springer first tried to buy The Telegraph in 2004 when Mathias Döpfner was outbid by the Barclays - the owners whose financial issues began the current three-year limbo for staff at the paper.
This week Döpfner got UK government approval for the £575m takeover, which is expected to complete by the end of June.
The news was “greeted with relief” in the Telegraph newsroom.
He’s promising plans for The Telegraph to “become the most read and intellectually inspiring centre-right media outlet in the English-speaking world”. Much greater expansion into the US appears to be on the cards.
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🍷Shall we discuss these stories further over a glass of red?
Forbes, one of the hardest hit large newsbrands in terms of traffic over the past year, is focusing on ways it can build revenue around core communities.
And entrepreneurs and business leaders seem to love wine so that’s where Forbes has gone next.
Rather than just being a new content vertical, a key part of the Forbes Wine launch is a subscription wine club and a shop.
SVP of consumer revenue and growth Emily Jackson was keen to stress that this commerce journey is fully owned and operated by Forbes, albeit with the help of a third-party fulfilment partner. So it’s a major step beyond affiliates for the brand.
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