MM Linkdein 1hr ago26 Jul 2023 18:58
It’s true, we’ve bought one of the UK’s larger newspapers, CityAM. All media, from Instagram to Vogue, are middlemen between consumers and brands. Content brings consumers, and brands pay to get in front of them.
THG spends over £200m a year on speaking to consumers. We spend huge sums on media, but we’re also a vast producer of content ourselves. Both Myprotein and LOOKFANTASTIC.COM produce their own magazines, with ABC circulations of c550k per edition - huge audiences by any standard, dwarfing most magazines & newspapers.
CityAM has a monthly reach of 2m people, and a print circulation of 250k a week. It generates c£5m of ad tech revenues, but has recently been loss making. THG’s existing media infrastructure brings c£1m pa of synergies, returning it to profit. More importantly, THG Ingenuity immediately solves an underinvested digital offering. The Lifestyle and Sports content complements our content for huge global audiences in our Beauty and Nutrition apps, and THG Ingenuity can benefit from market leading relationships at CityAM.
In fact, CityAM is a rare breed, having spent decades cheerleading both the UK and businesses alike. Years ago, newspapers worked closely with businesses to understand the UK market and whip up public support for UK policies. This helped drive UK competitiveness on a global stage. But that model is long gone.
Maybe Twitter played a part, a platform where wild controversy and views can be aired without the same media regulation, dragging huge audiences away from traditional media. Add TikTok and Meta into the mix and competition to attract eyeballs is a crowded space. Traditional media has had to adapt to stay relevant, and no doubt has shifted closer to the Twitter model than many will admit. After all, audience numbers are what matter in driving ad revenues.
The fact that most of Britain’s media is foreign owned can’t be ideal. Almost all the press have long abandoned their LSE listings. Even the Financial Times recently raised the white flag, left the LSE, and sold itself to the Japanese.
So, while THG is mostly interested in building ad tech reach with CityAM, it has to be a good thing that one of the UK’s most influential business papers remains in UK ownership.
Like with all our other media assets, neither I nor the Board will be driving editorial content, there are far more talented people out there to do this. But there's a clear gap in the UK business media, one that supports and appreciates UK business, and is keen to see the UK improve our global competitiveness. CityAM, THG, and our partners, will now step up further to fill this gap, loud and clear.
And so, supported by unswerving investment from THG, there will be just one rule for the future editorial direction of CityAM:
"Where possible, be a cheerleader for both the UK and businesses alike, and don't get dragged over to the dark side."
Watch this space....
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