Jump to content
Bills Fans Gear Now Available! ×

The Athletic [NYT Buying It] Layoffs, Changing Model


Ann

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, Ann said:

 

Watching The Athletic go broke is disappointing, but when it's dead and buried I suspect we'll look back to see a handful of people who make a shitload of money off the venture without keeping their own cash flowing back into the venture. You don't just blow through $25M with 600 employees, most of whom are earning peanuts, without a handful of people cruising around in their new yachts.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

Watching The Athletic go broke is disappointing, but when it's dead and buried I suspect we'll look back to see a handful of people who make a shitload of money off the venture without keeping their own cash flowing back into the venture. You don't just blow through $25M with 600 employees, most of whom are earning peanuts, without a handful of people cruising around in their new yachts.

 

 

 

I'm finding the shitty reporting which prioritizes sensationalism over facts to be difficult to follow, but I think what it says is they lost $22mm over two years.  That's actually not that much for a start up with such a quick ramp (600 people is a huge team in just two years).   New ventures of this size are rarely profitable from day 1.

 

In terms of total expenses, $95MM / 2 years / 600 people = $79k per head per year (total cost, including benefits, taxes, travel, etc).  Need to make some adjustment for the ramp up of people, offset by the non-people costs, but overall I don't see a huge disconnect (or yachts) in those numbers.   My company spends more than that every year, with only 400 people.

 

Unless their investors are completely asleep at the wheel (or have other, unrelated issues), I don't see this as cause for immediate alarm.  They need to (and presumably are) analyze the trajectory of the subscriber growth/retention metrics, decide if it's worth continuing to keep the peddle down on growth spending, and if not, will figure out the when/where on reducing headcount/spend.  That's pretty much what I do every day.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

I'm finding the shitty reporting which prioritizes sensationalism over facts to be difficult to follow, but I think what it says is they lost $22mm over two years.  That's actually not that much for a start up with such a quick ramp (600 people is a huge team in just two years).   New ventures of this size are rarely profitable from day 1.

 

In terms of total expenses, $95MM / 2 years / 600 people = $79k per head per year (total cost, including benefits, taxes, travel, etc).  Need to make some adjustment for the ramp up of people, offset by the non-people costs, but overall I don't see a huge disconnect (or yachts) in those numbers.   My company spends more than that every year, with only 400 people.

 

Unless their investors are completely asleep at the wheel (or have other, unrelated issues), I don't see this as cause for immediate alarm.  They need to (and presumably are) analyze the trajectory of the subscriber growth/retention metrics, decide if it's worth continuing to keep the peddle down on growth spending, and if not, will figure out the when/where on reducing headcount/spend.  That's pretty much what I do every day.

 

 

The other question, and it looks like they've answered it already, is do you need 3 people covering the Bills?   This is a brutal sector, and it's hard to be profitable when you're fielding 3 reporters in the smallest NFL market.   What's their coverage in the other sports/markets.   In the end, you can't outrun the industry dynamics.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, GG1 said:

 

The other question, and it looks like they've answered it already, is do you need 3 people covering the Bills?   This is a brutal sector, and it's hard to be profitable when you're fielding 3 reporters in the smallest NFL market.   What's their coverage in the other sports/markets.   In the end, you can't outrun the industry dynamics.

 

Yup.  I think long term success here is still unlikely, but agree that 600 seems like a very big staff unless you're paying them by the word instead of a salary (I know nothing about this industry).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

I'm finding the shitty reporting which prioritizes sensationalism over facts to be difficult to follow, but I think what it says is they lost $22mm over two years.  That's actually not that much for a start up with such a quick ramp (600 people is a huge team in just two years).   New ventures of this size are rarely profitable from day 1.

 

In terms of total expenses, $95MM / 2 years / 600 people = $79k per head per year (total cost, including benefits, taxes, travel, etc).  Need to make some adjustment for the ramp up of people, offset by the non-people costs, but overall I don't see a huge disconnect (or yachts) in those numbers.   My company spends more than that every year, with only 400 people.

 

Unless their investors are completely asleep at the wheel (or have other, unrelated issues), I don't see this as cause for immediate alarm.  They need to (and presumably are) analyze the trajectory of the subscriber growth/retention metrics, decide if it's worth continuing to keep the peddle down on growth spending, and if not, will figure out the when/where on reducing headcount/spend.  That's pretty much what I do every day.

 

 

Thanks. I guess I just don't understand how they lose money like that, but I suspect that is mostly because I sweat every nickel my company makes or loses just to keep alive and keep people on payroll, and loss that like hurts my head. 

Edited by IDBillzFan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

Thanks. I guess I just don't understand how they lose money like that, but I suspect that is mostly because I sweat every nickel my company makes or loses just to keep alive and keep people on payroll, and loss that like hurts my head. 

 

What, you can't just burn through the cash and go raise a Series B?

 

To grossly oversimplify it, this is basically how large scale private investment works in the US (or at least until Biden and Liz destroy the system).  Rich people put money into private equity funds.  PE funds invest in companies that spend a ton of money to stimulate growth.  Most of the time it doesn't take off, the investors eventually stop throwing good money after bad, and they take the loss when the company folds or gets sold off for pennies on the dollar.  But, if it takes off and becomes Facebook, everyone gets rich.   And of course there are a range of outcomes between zero and a zillion.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
47 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

Guess I'll be canceling my subscription.   It was fun while it lasted.

 

 

Seriously. You can clock how fast the NYT will eff up this publication on an egg timer.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Core Four said:

It will become another woke media with a little bit of sports mixed in.  Expect subscribers to exit in droves.

 

You underestimate how many woke Bills fans there are. Spend some time ATOP, if you haven't. It's loaded with Bills fans so far left they will tell you that last 1/6 is just as bad as 9/11. They won't be happy until NFL player jerseys replace player names with player preferred pronouns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crap Throwing Clavin

Was in Poughkeepsie for college, and the options for sports coverage were the NY Post and Times.  The NYT's coverage was simply awful, even back then (Gulf War era) when their reporting and editorial standards was relatively level-headed.  

 

But now?  I have full confidence, given their innate inability to report on sports, in their need to bring in an external sports reporting source like the Athletic.  And, given their innate inability to report on sports combined with their current near-total woke reporting incompetence, in their ultimately &#%$ing things up with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crap Throwing Clavin
2 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

Oh boy....can't wait for all those new articles telling me why I'm a terrible person if I'm not watching the WNBA.

 

I'll add that reason to the list.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

You underestimate how many woke Bills fans there are. Spend some time ATOP, if you haven't. It's loaded with Bills fans so far left they will tell you that last 1/6 is just as bad as 9/11. They won't be happy until NFL player jerseys replace player names with player preferred pronouns.

 

I'm familiar with that site and completely agree with you.  Also quite a contingent of trained, clapping seals there.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

Oh boy....can't wait for all those new articles telling me why I'm a terrible person if I'm not watching the WNBA.

 

And their countless articles about how Colin Kaepernick isn't in the NFL because he refused to be a slave.

 

3 minutes ago, Core Four said:

I'm familiar with that site and completely agree with you.  Also quite a contingent of trained, clapping seals there.

 

They're like a tiny version of Twitter or Facebook. Say something they don't like...even if it's true? You're banned.

 

I should have seen it coming years ago when I was running this pick 'em competition of sorts, and made reference to a 'rump ranger,' and one of the dudes (I think it was Adam) shut down the thread after a bunch of people already made picks because he said I was making fun of gays.

 

I didn't make fun of gays. I made fun of rump rangers. Totally different. But he didn't care, so that was the end.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue., Guidelines