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Athletic, Axios talking merger?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by FileNotFound, Mar 26, 2021.

  1. ChadFelter

    ChadFelter Active Member

  2. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Never heard'a The Information.

    We founded The Information in late 2013 with a simple idea: write deeply reported articles about the technology industry that you won't find elsewhere.

    Since then, we've moved markets, gotten the early scoop on billions of dollars of acquisitions and told you what's happening deep inside companies like Apple, Facebook and Google. Our stories have been followed by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Bloomberg and other major outlets thousands of times. How we compete is simple. We recruit the best reporters, give them the freedom to write about important topics and tell them not to worry about the small stuff.

    Because our articles are deeply reported and written for an engaged audience, they have real impact. Our coverage of the secret terms of VC deals—and what they mean for employees—has reshaped how some investors and companies approach those deals. And our Future List project about the lack of diversity among tech investors has been cited by more than a hundred publications.

    Quality stories breed quality subscribers. As our subscriber community grows, we're investing aggressively in our team and reporting. We believe this formula is far more scalable than relying on traffic or conferences, and it's totally—100 percent—aligned with our readers.

    Unlike most other news sites, we don’t have venture capital or corporate owners. I own the publication. Like other publications, we do sometimes do business deals with companies that we cover, such as event sponsorships. Those never affect coverage.

    If you have any questions about us, our business or our team, we'd love to hear from you at hello@theinformation.com. Thank you for your interest in what we're building.

     
  3. Sports Barf

    Sports Barf Well-Known Member

    The author of this biased hit piece is clearly jealous they aren’t working at The Athletic
     
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    We've spent pages talking about how it (likely) wasn't profitable yet. Apparently, that piece says that it isn't profitable yet.

    Also, I can't read that whole thing because I don't subscribe to that site, but the lede is maybe not inaccurate, but it is clearly designed to be misleading. It says it burned through $95 million, but had $73 million in revenue. What matters to anyone looking at the financials would be the NET burn rate, not a cash burn rate. And the net burn was $22 million according to those numbers. That would fit their narrative that they have been investing heavily to try to draw subscribers. If what they are doing has legs, it would be pretty much the story of a lot of media assets and publication in modern times. It costs a lot up front to create something. ... that if successful then becomes a cash cow with low operating costs. The jury is still out about whether the Athletic is going to achieve that success, but the attempted sarcastic posts are ridiculous at THIS point.
     
    SFIND likes this.
  5. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

     
  6. BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo

    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo Well-Known Member

    Sports Barf likes this.
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Two years ago, Netflix burned through more than $3 billion. ... which is a hell of a lot more money than $95 million. It was raising billions of dollars via the debt markets, which has actually saddled the company itself with a liability, unlike the venture capital raises the Athletic has done that hand over equity to people.

    The value of Netflix was growing by leaps and bounds. People were willing to pay an enormous valuation to own equity in the company. So people clearly didn't see the cash burn as a negative. They were buying the story that Netflix was "investing". ... to grow and increase the number of subscribers.

    This is why the attempts at sarcasm due to that story miss the point. Cash burn itself -- even in a sensationalistic lede that gives zero context -- can be a really bad thing. OR it can be part of a growth strategy that leads to much bigger things.

    The Athletic is making the same exact case that Netflix was making for years. It raised a lot of money. ... and it is spending it to try to grow.

    And it's actually blowing through cash (so far at least) without saddling the company with an enormous amount of debt.

    Another example is Amazon, which blew through lord knows how much cash year after year on its way to where it is today.

    The cash burn is only a problem for the Atheltic if their ability to sell equity or to borrow ends. Actually, if its business model works (the only thing that matters in the end), presumably it could even try to grow organically, but much slower than it would like, without raising more money. It doesn't appear to be sitting there with a big debt load that it has to service.
     
    SFIND likes this.
  8. MeanGreenATO

    MeanGreenATO Well-Known Member

    Also, found this pretty interesting: My annual subscription price is making a healthy jump up 20% to $71.99. Still a very low price but if I had to decide if I find more value in my local paper or The Athletic, it's my local paper -- which is a Gannett publication and more or less stinks.

    Contrary to Felter's sarcastic posts to deflect from his Athletic stanning, nobody on sportsjournalists.com is hoping jobs are lost. I really hope cuts aren't coming over there, but based on some of the recent trends, that might be in the works in coming months.
     
  9. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Did you get notice about that jump? I'm a subscriber and I don't think I'd leave over that but I would expect a note.
     
  10. MeanGreenATO

    MeanGreenATO Well-Known Member

    Just checked and I did back in September, so that's on me for being surprised. But like you said, not a big deal.

    However, this line from the note is pretty rich (no pun intended): "Our updated pricing reflects the growth in value that a subscription to The Athletic provides." I don't think that's true when you look at how coverage has actually shrunk (see the gutted combat section) and other beats that haven't been replenished.

    But I get it. It's business.
     
  11. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    That's great.

    We're so good and making you pay more, fucker!
     
  12. ChrisLong

    ChrisLong Well-Known Member

    I noticed a $60 charge on my credit card statement about a month ago. They provided no notification of this, which I find irritating and unprofessional.

    A couple of years ago when I questioned the bump from the introductory fee (I think it was $30) to the current $60, I questioned them and got rude email replies. It was essentially, screw you, this is how we do it, if you don't like it, cancel. That doesn't sound like the way to build readership.
     
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