As many news brands struggle Axios went from inception to a half billion valuation in five years. CRO Fabricio Drumond lets us pop the hood on this successful media business. What decisions were critical to success, about both editorial focus and format as well as revenue strategy? What did they learn about monetization models as well as the importance and limits of diversification? Were there critical course corrections? And how will this model and its lessons extend now to Axios’s plan to make local reporting a sustainable business?

We know data is the new media when it comes to the publishing business. But what is the data strategy? We bring several publishing leaders together to share their plans for increasing, organizing and mobilizing their first-party audience data to drive revenue growth across products.

BDG has acquired ten companies in less than a decade. But it isn't about the transaction. A successful M&A boils down to culture, transparency, and integration. Sharmi Gandhi shared lessons learned from overseeing many of these deals. She explores how companies can prepare pre-close to set up a successful acquisition post-close.

Media companies are told that their future audience is, well, everywhere. Content needs to flow into everything from 2D forever scrolls to metaverses, CTV episodes to TikTok/YT/IG “shorts,” game worlds to gas station pumps. IGN Publisher John Davison explains how one of the largest, and oldest, digital entertainment sources is rebuilding both their programming and monetization strategy around fluid audience media behaviors. How can publishers future-proof a foundation that adapts to the next TikTok, the next rideshare media network, the next ultraverse?

As the largest marriage of digital native and legacy media brands to date, but clearly not the last, Dotdash Meredith offers a glimpse into the future of media. We explore with Alysia how the company is deciding to place its bets, the brands it has jettisoned and where it is doubling down. We will also see how Dotdash Meredith is putting first-party data at the center and moving from simple audience segmentation to targeting intent and moments of need.

As SVOD mainstays add AVOD components, subscription fatigue and churn proliferate, media buyers struggle to rebuild their lost linear TV reach. The video landscape is as promising for publishers as it is cluttered and diffused with brands but dominated by a few goliaths. How do publishers play profitably in such a complex terrain? How do they manage distribution and monetization challenges in a market where media buyers demand scale?

Since it launched in 2016, DIY brand 5-minute Crafts has consistently been a top channel on YouTube and Facebook. But with the rise of short-form video and the growing importance of long-form CTV distribution, the brand found itself having to evolve its video formats in opposite directions. Michael shares how the company is adapting both the content and the business models for its key video franchises into the Omni-Media world.

Gaming is everywhere, and is for everyone.  The question is no longer "do you game?", but "what do you play?" How can a range of publishers better understand and capture the many demos and the energy of gaming? One of the largest gaming and esports media companies shares what it has learned about understanding gaming as a social connector, how it innovates in ad products and opens a door for publishers into Web3/Metaverse futures.

Shuttles leave hotel at 6:15pm sharp! (5 min ride)

This is not a test. On-demand audio is quickly becoming an expectation of media brands, not an experimental project. But what podcast strategy fits different brands, both as editorial extensions of brand and viable businesses? We ask several publishing brands to compare different audio business strategies. Do you need a network of shows, or a marquee blockbuster? Can podcast inventory energize ad sales? And how do you build a viable audience amidst the clutter?

The Texas Tribune helped pioneer the model for a non-profit, public service news organization. What has the company learned from its blend of personal and corporate donations and sponsorships, newsletters and signature news-driven events? The head of the Trib’s internal RevLab, a support organization built to explore ideas around sustainable media businesses, shares what is working for them and for others.