• by Sara Guaglione , June 26, 2018

CEO of Domino Media Group Nathan Coyle has been tapped to lead Pride Media, the publisher of LGBTQ-focused titles Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Plus, Chill and Pride.

“We believe Nathan will guide Pride Media’s expansion of its existing business, while also establishing new revenue models for us through a variety of initiatives that allow us to reach further into the communities we serve,” stated Adam Levin, chairman of Pride Media’s board of directors. Levin is also CEO of High Times.

The Advocate and Out “played an incredibly important role in my own development as a young gay man growing up in suburban Detroit,” stated Coyle.

He told Publishers Daily the position is “a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a shift in my career to take on something that has a very personal meaning. Running a company that serves the community that I belong to is so exciting.”

Coyle said he will work to develop digital and off-line strategies that will expand Pride Media’s reach, lines of business and revenue streams.

Pride Media is being run like a publishing company, but “the way I see the opportunity is… creating lifestyle brands. There is so much opportunity to expand the digital footprint and social channels of Out.com, Pride.com and Advocate.com,” he said. He wants to “build a digital editorial operation” out of Pride Media.

Such changes are methods Coyle has employed successfully in the past. At Domino Media, Coyle helped triple online audience reach and advertising revenue year-over-year, while also developing a new events business and Domino-branded consumer products. While on the executive team at Refinery 29, he built new businesses and revenue models for the women’s lifestyle brand, including the creation of their video and influencer business.

Audience has been fairly flat over the last few years at Pride Media, Coyle noted. He is meeting with candidates to find a head of growth analytics and partnerships. Pride Media’s portfolio has a mix of digital-only titles and brands with print publications, too. The Advocate and Out have print magazines, and Chill, a quarterly print title, launched a few months ago for black and Latino men.

Pride launched about three years ago as a digital property. Out Travel shut down in 2008, but will be relaunched in the fourth quarter.

Coyle has his sights set on a global expansion for Pride Media's brands. He is headed to the UK this week to see what a “Western European expansion could look like," and mentioned opportunities to reach into markets in Mexico and Colombia.

Coyle also wants to connect deeper with millennials and Gen Z LGBTQ audiences.

The company will expand its events business, too. Coyle teased an announcement coming in the next few weeks on “the biggest event we’ve ever done.” A four-day pop-up event called Pride Place took place in New York last week, sponsored by Samsung, Walgreens and H&M, among others.

Pride Media also announced Who What Wear’s Bobby Schuessler will lead Out.com as the website’s editorial director.

Domino Media, an independent company that publishes interior-design magazine Domino, has been acquired by Multiply. Multiply owns lifestyle brands FashionBeans, HealthyWay and Urbo. Coyle said Multiply is looking to hire a general manager to succeed him at Domino Media Group, rather than a CEO title. Multiply’s vice president of operations Chris Hawkins will serve as interim general manager.