Publishers struggle at alignment
Two in three lack a single unified success metric
RIP summer. We are exactly two months away from people in the Northeast saying, “I can’t believe it’s dark already” at 4:49pm.
The Rebooting partnered with Piano for our latest research project, which examines how publishers are taking a “total monetization” approach to audiences as publishing business strategies shift from a volume to value. One persistent issue in going from strategy to execution: misalignment.
Plus: Teton Ridge CEO Deirdre Lester on why rodeo is ready to have a moment, and on PvA, AI’s inevitable slip into the trough of disillusionment.
Misalignment
The biggest challenge facing publishers right now isn’t Google Zero or AI. It’s misalignment.
In new research The Rebooting conducted in collaboration with Piano, we surveyed 65 publishers to understand their approaches to what we call “total monetization” strategies. We found that only 17% of publishers cite ARPU as their primary KPI.
- 35% say they have no single guiding metric at all.
- Just 11% describe their organization as “very aligned” on shared goals.
- 70% lack a consistent process for balancing ads vs. subscriptions.
- Nearly half still have separate leaders for advertising and subscriptions.
This report dives into how revenue leaders are tackling these challenges.
Maximizing ARPU
Piano’s Digital Revenue Optimization solution helps digital services grow revenue by better understanding and influencing their customers’ behavior. Piano unifies analytics, segmentation, and commercial personalization in one AI-driven application, enabling sites and apps to efficiently maximize the value of every user visit. Headquartered in Amsterdam with offices in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Piano serves a global client base including the BBC, Deutsche Telekom, Nikkei, AXA and the Wall Street Journal. For more information, visit piano.io.
Monetizing cowboys
Deirdre Lester is no stranger to how sports brands can influence culture. She served for four years as the CRO at Barstool as it grew well beyond its roots in sports banter to develop several revenue streams. At Teton Ridge, Deirdre sees a similar opportunity in the niche of Western sports like rodeo.
Teton Ridge is betting on Western sports and lifestyle — acquiring The Cowboy Channel, building original programming around rodeo, and elevating events like the American Rodeo. It’s part media company, part sports IP owner, and part entertainment studio, with the aim of modernizing a tradition-rich category while keeping its Americana authenticity.
Deirdre and I talk about what it takes to grow in a time of constant industry change, and why she believes Western sports are poised for growth.
On the latest episode of People vs Algorithms, we discuss the AI hype cycle entering the trough of disillusionment as the hyperventilating claims of what it could and will do run into the reality that it so far hasn’t delivered on the promised massive productivity gains – and why this is a natural part of tech innovation cycles. Also:
- The death of criticism. Elite critics have lost to Statler & Waldorf.
- NYT gets a new activist investor. Lord, give us the unbridled self-confidence of spreadsheet people who always think they have all the answers.
- Maybe CMOs are brave. Trump weighs in on Cracker Barrel’s scuttled rebrand and MSNBC enters Troncville with MS Now. Sometimes doing nothing is the right choice.
- Long live apps. The open web’s in hospice, and apps have won the day.
- Good native advertising. The Price is Right had the right formula.
For more on the death of cultural criticism, see our back and forth in the PvA newsletter.
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For partnership information, see how we work with companies like Piano
