Business Outsider (SCOOP): When Axel Springer executive Christian Baesler took over as interim CEO of Business Insider in May, he made it clear that his tenure as top lieutenant would be temporary. But given his wealth of experience atop media organizations—Baesler served as the COO of BuzzFeed and CEO of Complex, among other roles—it was not exactly clear why. It turns out that the German executive is raising funds for a separate project, according to two people familiar with the matter. I am told that Baesler has put those efforts on the shelf while leading BI, but that when Axel Springer names a new CEO, which is set to happen in the coming months, Baesler will resume his fundraising and recommit his focus to the new venture. I have scant few details about the project—Baesler did not respond to my request for comment—but given his track record, media would be my first bet.
Weather Vanes: Yahoo is planning to relaunch its Weather App in the coming weeks, accompanied by a buzzy new marketing campaign to promote the update. The effort is the latest in a series of new, weather-centric offerings to debut from publishers, which are presumably interested in capitalizing on users’ daily habit of checking the forecast. CNN has made weather a central tenet of its new digital offering, and Byron Allen, who owns the Weather Channel, aims to plug BuzzFeed into its Local Now service. While I enjoy checking the weather as much as the next guy, I have yet to wrap my head around how such a service could offer anything more than incremental value to a preexisting product. The real weather heads have their own universe of hyper-scientific services, while most casual users can make do with the built-in Weather app in their phones. If anyone can explain this uptick in investment, please do.
After School at Cannes (PODCAST): I spoke with Casey Lewis, author of the Substack newsletter After School, at Cannes the other week, and the kindly folks at Sounds Profitable recorded the interview, which you can watch in full here. Casey, who covers youth trends, talked about the decline of text-based media among younger audiences, the performative rise in analog hobbies, and how she anticipates creators growing their businesses in the coming years.
Side Projects at Cannes (PODCAST): Similarly, I joined Clare Malley and Eli Williams, hosts of the Day One Agency podcast Side Projects, at Cannes to talk about what I was seeing on the ground. I made the case that Cannes is not the place for launching products, but rather where industry leaders come to build consensus about what is and is not working in the space. We talked about the declining focus on creative, the rising focus on creators, and why executives are finally admitting behind closed doors that artificial intelligence is not worth the cost. You can listen here.
Quote/Unquote
At Cannes, I moderated a one-on-one panel with Mike Peralta, the chief revenue officer of Future, a publicly traded digital media company that houses over 130 editorial brands, including Marie Claire, Tom’s Guide, and Who What Wear, among others.
In the conversation, Mike and I discussed how Future is responding to the challenges posed by AI, especially as it relates to declining traffic, as well as how the company is working to be compensated for the use of its data and improving its answer engine optimization.
