The Bill Simmons Podcast explores the evolution of the digital media landscape with Jason Goff and Dave Finocchio. They discuss the rise of Bleacher Report, which offered personalized sports content at a time when traditional media giants struggled to adapt to the internet. The conversation covers how digital media companies capitalized on social media platforms like Facebook, and the subsequent industry shift toward acquisitions and unsustainable growth.
Looking ahead, Finocchio presents his vision for launching a niche website in 2024. He emphasizes tailoring content to solve specific problems and cultivate engaged communities, rather than attempting to provide broad coverage. The episode provides insights into navigating the ever-changing landscape and seizing opportunities in the digital media space.
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Dave Finocchio explains how Bleacher Report offered personalized sports content through newsletters and Google search traffic, gaining traction amid struggling traditional media giants like ESPN. Despite skepticism about entering the crowded sports media market, Finocchio persisted, as Bill Simmons notes competitors like Sports Illustrated also faltered digitally then.
Finocchio discusses how Facebook's integration of third-party content drove a massive traffic surge benefiting publishers. However, he cautions that relying too heavily on this algorithmically-driven social traffic posed significant risks when Facebook's strategies inevitably shifted.
Simmons and Finocchio describe a transformation where the focus moved from growing audiences to pursuing acquisition, with companies investing in appearances to attract buyers. Finocchio confirms this strategic pivot geared towards acquisition after Bleacher Report's 2012 sale.
They also touch on the bursting of an unsustainable growth bubble fueled by overspending and unrealistic valuations. Simmons highlights a new era of more judicious acquisitions combining complementary businesses to create greater customer value.
Finocchio outlines his approach with The Cool Down: solving a real pollution problem, building an engaged community through partnerships and influencers, and ensuring profitability via effective business management. He emphasizes focusing on niche problems and audiences rather than broad coverage. Data-driven ad targeting and potential B2B tools are also noted as revenue streams.
1-Page Summary
Dave Finocchio shares insights on developing Bleacher Report during a time when traditional sports media were failing to personalize sports content.
At a time when traditional media broadcasted a broad and unfocused array of sports content, Finocchio saw an opportunity for a sports media platform that could offer a more personalized experience. With the advent of mobile apps, Finocchio explains, they were able to provide sports followers with the content they wanted while omitting the irrelevant, leading to a surge in audience growth around 2010. This explosion was driven largely by Google search traffic and a significant newsletter program that provided curated content to subscribers, combining the best of Bleacher Report’s articles with top-notch content from other sources. This strategy allowed them to act effectively as a portal while solving problems for fans.
Finocchio started Bleacher Report as a college senior, identifying a lack of quality team content and a need for more entertaining sports coverage. Seeking venture capital funding, Bleacher Report was often met with skepticism, being told that the sports media industry was a zero-sum game controlled primarily by five significant players, including powerhouses like ESPN, Yahoo, ...
Building a Sports Media Company in the Mid-2000s
Dave Finocchio addresses the role of Facebook in changing the media landscape and the inherent risks it posed for third-party websites reliant on social traffic.
Finocchio discusses the seismic shift in social media use when Facebook decided to drive significant traffic to third-party websites. He notes that Facebook’s integration of links to third-party content caused the average user time to increase from 350 to over 1000 minutes per month. This indicated that users were hungry for content beyond their immediate social circles, such as news and entertainment. Facebook’s transformation into a newsfeed was crucial for companies like Buzzfeed, which witnessed massive growth due to the surge in social traffic.
However, Finocchio also highlights the perils of this dependency. He explains that Facebook’s frequent strategy shifts posed a substantial risk to publishers th ...
The Rise of Social Media and its Impact
Bill Simmons and Dave Finocchio discuss the significant transformations in the digital media landscape, looking at the shift from growing audiences to strategic acquisitions and examining the bubble that has burst due to unsustainable growth.
Simmons and Finocchio illustrate the change in media strategy that has taken place over time, pointing out a shift towards prioritizing the value of media companies to attract investors. During the late 2000s, there was a focus on traffic and audience metrics, but as time progressed, the strategy changed. By the 2010s, companies began to focus on their aesthetic appeal possibly to lure in buyers rather than on essential startup needs.
Finocchio talks about his experience leaving Bleacher Report in 2019 and how the focus in the industry had shifted from creating valuable content towards becoming attractive to investors. Companies, particularly some based in New York, invested heavily in appearances and brands, which could have been an attempt to woo advertisers or to set themselves up for acquisition. Simmons also discusses how companies during the 2010s looked more towards who might buy them out rather than focusing on their foundational values.
Finocchio confirms this shift in focus to aiming for acquisition, as seen when his company was bought in August 2012. The subsequent focus on Facebook by investors caused substantial investments in media companies, inferring a move towards a strategy centered around acquisition. He uses the success of Vice as an example of chasing valuations and strategies that later proved unsustainable.
The discussion between Simmons and Finocchio reflects a strategic media landscape pivot more towards acquisitions and consolidation to enhance user experiences rather than merely building standalone audiences. Companies now aim to build cohesive consumer experiences, sometimes by bringing together different parts to create something more beneficial for consumers.
The conversation also touches on the unsustainability of the growth strategies that were prevalent in the digital media space. Finocchio discusses how Turner's acquisition of Bleacher Report led to its growth beyond independent capabilities, with employee numbers and revenue increasing significantly post-acquisition. However, a sustainability issue ...
Changes in the Digital Media Landscape
Dave Finocchio discusses strategies for launching a successful website in the modern media landscape, focusing on solving real problems, building an engaged community, and ensuring the profitability and sustainability of the business model.
Finocchio has founded The Cool Down to be a guide for consumers and businesses to transition to a cleaner future. He is addressing a significant problem—pollution—by offering trusted information that enables individuals to lower their pollution levels and improve their communities. This approach solves the real problem of accessing information about reducing pollution and bettering the environment.
Finocchio also speaks on the importance of having a niche focus in today's media era, highlighting the need for a focused approach on solving specific problems for a specific audience, rather than trying to be a jack-of-all-trades.
The Cool Down has successfully built a sizable monthly audience of 35 million people. Finocchio discusses the success of the platform's newsletters in home and technology and the anticipation of launching an automotive newsletter. He mentions impactful brand partnerships with influential figures like free solo climber Alex Honnold, to create content that resonates with the audience and promotes sustainable practices.
Furthermore, Finocchio emphasizes the strategy of working with a diverse range of influencers—from country singers to sports stars—to build a community that is actively engaged with the purpose and content provided by The Cool Down.
Reflecting on his experience, Finocchio discusses the importance of having good business fundamenta ...
Launching a Website in 2024
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