The Onion's new CEO and CPO reveal their strategy to pull the satirical news outlet out of the digital media
Key takeaways
The Onion is relaunching its website with a focus on product innovation and user experience to drive engagement and revenue.
A significant part of their strategy involves a return to print, indicating a potential to diversify revenue streams beyond digital advertising.
The discussion emphasizes the importance of maintaining brand authenticity and satirical voice while adapting to new platforms and business models.
The Onion is exploring new business models beyond traditional advertising, such as subscriptions or alternative revenue streams, to ensure long-term viability.
The episode touches on navigating content creation and distribution in the age of AI and algorithmic feeds, crucial for any media company in 2024.
The Onion is a comedy institution — and like everything else in media, it went on a pure nightmare hell ride in the 2010s. We could do an entire episode on the G/O Media calamity, but the short version is: A bunch of friends just managed to buy The Onion, and they're busy relaunching the website, going back to print, and, clearly, having a blast doing it. CEO Ben Collins and chief product officer Danielle Strle joined me to explain how that even works in 2024. Links: The Onion sold by G/O Media | The New York Times Sam Reich on revamping the game show - and Dropout’s success | NPR Platformer’s Casey Newton on surviving the great media collapse | Decoder Craig Silverman: Digital advertising’s structure has been weaponized | Digiday US Warns a Gaza Ceasefire Would Only Benefit Humanity | The Onion The Truth is Paywalled but the Lies are Free | Current Affairs A newsroom expands and The Onion is out again on paper | Washington Post Report: Nuclear War Sounds Fucking Amazing Right Now | The Onion Google defends AI search results after they told us to put glue on pizza | The Verge Jury awards nearly $1B to Sandy Hook families in Alex Jones defamation case | CNN ‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens | The Onion Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23989633 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Onion is relaunching its website with a focus on product innovation and user experience to drive engagement and revenue.
What does this episode say about finance & fundraising?
A significant part of their strategy involves a return to print, indicating a potential to diversify revenue streams beyond digital advertising.
What does this episode say about product & merchandising?
The discussion emphasizes the importance of maintaining brand authenticity and satirical voice while adapting to new platforms and business models.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
The Onion is exploring new business models beyond traditional advertising, such as subscriptions or alternative revenue streams, to ensure long-term viability.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
The episode touches on navigating content creation and distribution in the age of AI and algorithmic feeds, crucial for any media company in 2024.
