45 episodes

A Media Operator is a community for entrepreneurs and operators in the digital media space. This podcast is a natural extension of the newsletter (www.amediaoperator.com) and community that has already been built. Each week, I will interview entrepreneurs and operators that are building these media companies. Over the course of approximately an hour, we'll discuss their businesses, their success and failures, and, ultimately, what they learned about building media companies.

This podcast will provide actionable insights for current and prospective media operators. That means we're not only talking strategies in media, but also the tactics. We'll be diving into business models, audience development, subscription, commerce, advertising, audio, video—you name it, we'll be discussing it.

A Media Operator is also very much about niche media. That doesn't mean small. To me, niche media means depth. We should celebrate these stories and there are plenty of them. On this podcast, you'll finally hear them.

Wherever you listen to podcasts, hit that subscribe button so you know when I release an episode. As the show starts, considering rating it and leaving a comment so I know how I'm doing. I view A Media Operator as a tool for you; if I'm failing, I want to know.

Thanks for tuning in today and I'll be talking with you soon.

A Media Operator Jacob Cohen Donnelly

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 23 Ratings

A Media Operator is a community for entrepreneurs and operators in the digital media space. This podcast is a natural extension of the newsletter (www.amediaoperator.com) and community that has already been built. Each week, I will interview entrepreneurs and operators that are building these media companies. Over the course of approximately an hour, we'll discuss their businesses, their success and failures, and, ultimately, what they learned about building media companies.

This podcast will provide actionable insights for current and prospective media operators. That means we're not only talking strategies in media, but also the tactics. We'll be diving into business models, audience development, subscription, commerce, advertising, audio, video—you name it, we'll be discussing it.

A Media Operator is also very much about niche media. That doesn't mean small. To me, niche media means depth. We should celebrate these stories and there are plenty of them. On this podcast, you'll finally hear them.

Wherever you listen to podcasts, hit that subscribe button so you know when I release an episode. As the show starts, considering rating it and leaving a comment so I know how I'm doing. I view A Media Operator as a tool for you; if I'm failing, I want to know.

Thanks for tuning in today and I'll be talking with you soon.

    Richard Lander on 25 Years of Building Citywire

    Richard Lander on 25 Years of Building Citywire

    My guest this week is Richard Lander, Director at Citywire, a UK-based media company that serves the asset management and wealth industries. In this 40 minute conversation, we talked about the various parts of the business, why the pandemic ultimately killed the print business, their events model, the various ways they generate revenue from licensing, and an interesting intent-based product they call Goldmine. I hope you enjoy this discussion.

    • 43 min
    Sebpo’s Todd Handy on Outsourcing Tips for Media Companies

    Sebpo’s Todd Handy on Outsourcing Tips for Media Companies

    This week we have a special edition of the AMO Podcast with Todd Handy, the chief revenue officer at SEBPO, a leading global outsourcing partner that serves the advertising, media, and technology industries. In this discussion, we dig into how companies should properly think about outsourcing, the scale, save, and succeed framework, how to overcome or avoid the common mistakes and fears in outsourcing, and why media companies need to be thinking about dual transformation. I hope you enjoy this discussion.

    • 36 min
    Jim VandeHei Talks About Everything Axios, Past and Future

    Jim VandeHei Talks About Everything Axios, Past and Future

    My guest this week is Jim VandeHei, co-founder and CEO of Axios. In this hour long conversation, we talked about the importance of advertising for the main business and why they never paywalled that, the company’s expansion into niche subscriptions, events, local news, entertainment, and software, how they've structured the team to build these various division. We also dug into a couple of M&A what-ifs tied to Politico and The Athletic, and then ended with his new book, Just the Good Stuff. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Andrew Perlman Talks About the Growth of Recurrent

    Andrew Perlman Talks About the Growth of Recurrent

    My guest this week is Andrew Perlman, co-founder and CEO of Recurrent. In this 45 minute conversation, we talked about the firm’s M&A strategy, their thesis on content to commerce and the various revenue sources, how they are thinking about platforms cutting into traffic to publisher sites, and how they’ve structured the teams with various GMs across the portfolio. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

    • 47 min
    Andy Cates on Why Non-Profit The Daily Memphian Must Be Self Funding

    Andy Cates on Why Non-Profit The Daily Memphian Must Be Self Funding

    My guest this week is Andy Cates, the President and founding Chair of Memphis Fourth Estate, a 501(c)(3) that launched and operates The Daily Memphian. In this conversation, we talked about why The Daily Memphian care so much about reaching break even on operating revenue versus purely fundraising, the inherent challenges they have raising money from national journalism funders due to this belief in building sustainably, how they’ve thought about growth over the six years of its existence, and so much more. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

    • 54 min
    Stephanie Kaplan Lewis Talks About Bootstrapping Her Campus Media Over the Last Decade

    Stephanie Kaplan Lewis Talks About Bootstrapping Her Campus Media Over the Last Decade

    My guest this week is Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, co-founder and CEO of Her Campus Media, a network of brands that serve college students across thousands of colleges. In this conversation, we dug into the early days of the business, the various advertising products they take to market, how they think about the inevitable graduation of their audience, and where they see the business going from here. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

    • 46 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
23 Ratings

23 Ratings

CityGirlnChi ,

Please make more!

Love this podcast, learning a lot, and I hope you make more episodes!

mpm318 ,

Five Stars for Jacob

I’ve recommended this podcast already to many people. Not only is Jacob one of the most well researched hosts but he’s also picking the best guests which show his subject matter expertise. By best I mean most adored niche B2B media companies. Highly recommend.

cdmbdt ,

A Media Operator is a Must Listen

Jay is a crusher. If you are in the media business, you need to listen to his podcast. If you aren’t, you will be fired because you are missing knowledge bombs from Jay.

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