Markets in the midst of technological change tend to have two camps. One is the legacy incumbents that have strengths in their brands and the other in upstarts that are nimbler. In digital media, it turned out brand won.

At Possible, The Rebooting held TRB Conversations, a series of podcast discussions with media leaders on what they’re betting on. The connective tissue that emerged is that publishers are leaning more heavily on the value of their brands as they reorient their businesses to focus less on scale and more on depth.

This episode features conversations with Shachar Oren, CMO/CRO of EX.CO; Brendan Spain, vp of advertising for the Americas, The Financial Times; Rachael Savage, svp of ad revenue operations, Hearst Magazines; and Avi Zimack, chief growth officer, Bustle Digital Group.

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At nearly two decades old, Politico's Playbook was an innovator in the now-familiar daily agenda-setting newsletter. Playbook is now more than a DC staple. It has editions in five countries with two more on the way. And it is looking to adopt a franchise model with multimedia and events extensions. Politico executive editor for Europe Kate Day joined the show to discuss the formula that makes Playbook work: the mix of exclusive reporting, service journalism, and a tone that feels like a letter from your smartest friend in politics. She talks about what stays consistent across cultures, what has to change, and why the Brussels political bubble turns out to be just as full of compelling characters as Capitol Hill.

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45:29 AI In The Newsroom

The decentralization of digital media has arrived for TV. The TV advertising system is being remade in the image of the data-focused, automated ad systems that came to dominate the internet. TV was always the holdout, thanks to scarcity. 

That’s changed. Now, TV advertising has fragmented as part of a larger video advertising ecosystem, stretching from connected TV to streaming to retail media to out of home placements. 

Last week, we held a series of discussions on this emerging ecosystem as part of TRB Conversations, powered by EX.CO. In this special episode, I speak to Lauren Benedict, vp of ad sales at Roku; Katie English, global head of ad sales at Spotify; and Patrick Courtney, chief business officer at Fuse Media.

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Much of the U.S. news landscape is doom and gloom, but The Guardian is a quiet success story. Powered by reader contributions, The Guardian now has a 150-person newsroom and draws more web traffic than The Washington Post. Guardian U.S. managing director Steve Sachs explains why its global, independent orientation is finding product-market fit in America.

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In this live recording from the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, I debated Peter Erdelyi, director of the Center for Sustainable Media, about the role of state subsidies in building sustainable media businesses.

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Morning Brew CEO Robert Dippell discusses why there are two types of publishers: those with a passive connection to their audience and those with a strong connection.

Sponsored by Beehiiv, the modern email system used by leading publishers like Time, TechCrunch and Newsweek.

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Allison Murphy, COO of Axios, joined me to discuss the evolution of Axios Local five years in. Axios plans to be in 43 cities by the end of the year. It is adapting its franchise model to build around individual reporters. In this model, the journalist becomes “talent” for multi-facated businesses, with Axios providing the support structure, shared services and a small team. We touch on how using AI tools can enable this kind of small-team approach.

Sponsored by beehiiv, the modern email platform used by major brands like Time, Newsweek and TechCrunch. See how beehiiv powers leading media brands

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Christian Muche built Dmexco into Europe's biggest digital marketing event, walked away, and then launched Possible in Miami Beach — after Martin Sorrell told him the world didn't need another marketing event. We talk about what it took to launch a new tentpole event during a pandemic, why he chose Miami , how the hosted buyer model brings marketers into the room, and why quality has replaced quantity as the currency of events.

The Rebooting is a media partner of Possible this year. Hope to see you in Miami Beach from April 27-29.

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Christian Muche built Dmexco into Europe's biggest digital marketing event, walked away, and then launched Possible in Miami Beach — after Martin Sorrell told him the world didn't need another marketing event. We talk about what it took to launch a new tentpole event during a pandemic, why he chose Miami , how the hosted buyer model brings marketers into the room, and why quality has replaced quantity as the currency of events.

The Rebooting is a media partner of Possible this year. Hope to see you in Miami Beach from April 27-29.

Former Athletic and Puck exec Max Tcheyan is launching Caper, a media brand covering the power dynamics behind the restaurant world. Max explains why he thinks food media is where sports media was in 2016, how dining culture has become a status marker for the affluent, and why he's betting that the prosumer playbook that worked for Hollywood and DC coverage can work for hospitality. We also discuss the risks of building a niche publication for an audience that would rather eat than read.