- Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO claims to be one of the world’s largest podcasts and may be on track to overtake Joe Rogan as the most subscribed one on YouTube. It had started with just a laptop and a sock pulled over a $100 microphone. He forecasts $60mn revenue in 2026 (up from $47mn in 2025). Bartlett had dropped out of university to launch an influencer agency Social Chain and created ‘The Diary’ in 2017 by turning his own diary entries into podcast episodes. He later began interviewing other people about their own diaries. Steven. com, his holding company, houses the podcast and other creator businesses. He forecasts about $90mn in revenue for his broader media company this year, including ‘The Diary’. He predicts $160mn revenue for next year. Bartlett was born in Botswana and raised in Plymouth, in the UK. He reportedly left Manchester Metropolitan University after just one lecture, co-founded Social Chain in 2014 (since sold), and is now a Dragons’ Den investor on BBC TV. In October 2025, his holding company fund-raised some $40mn at a $425mn enterprise valuation. Bartlett retains a shareholding of more than 90%. (Fortune)
- Hyphen, a news outlet focused on Muslim life in the UK and Europe, is closing. The UAE-backed outlet launched in 2022 and is owned by Link Media Corp (LMC) which also publishes Arabian Gulf Business Insight, launched the same year. (Press Gazette). LMC reported post-tax losses of £4mn in 2025 and £13.5mn cumulatively since 2021. The company’s main shareholder is the owner of Al Najma Media, an Abu Dhabi-based production company.
- Telegraph and Politico owner Axel Springer reportedly made a failed bid to acquire a stake in TikTok’s European operations. CEO Mathias Döpfner apparently proposed to buy the app’s European business from China’s ByteDance. Sources said he discussed the plan to the US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, the father of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. (FT) Axel Springer has launched a new model for independent journalism, Axel Springer Creators, which is supporting RONZHEIMER, described as “one of Germany’s most successful journalism podcasts” which in September had 12mn multi-platform views and 5.3mn on YouTube. Background
- Independent CEO Christian Broughton has said editors using the publisher’s in-house AI tools are now six times more ‘economically productive’ than those who do not. (Press Gazette) Broughton is participating in our AI Forum in London on 18 November. Background
- Ads on OpenAI’s ChatGPT are expanding to 26 more countries, including 14 in Latin America. Since launching ads eight months ago, more than 100,000 advertisers have run ads on the chatbot. (Open AI)
- Pre-tax profits at Condé Nast’s UK division were down 36% last year to just under £18mn, due principally to the £64mn profit from the 2024 sale of its London headquarters. Revenue was £100.4mn, 85% from ads and 15% from copy sales and subscriptions. Headcount was 461. Background
- UFI, the international trade show association, reports that AsiaPacific has more 100,000 sq m venues (41) than Europe (38) for the first time. It is now home to more of the world’s largest exhibition venues than any other region. UFI identified a total of 1,565 venues offering at least 5,000 sqm of gross indoor exhibition space, with a combined 45.2mn sqm as of 31 December 2025 – 35 venues (and 0.9 million sq m) more than the previous year. Twenty-two key markets offer more than 300,000 sqm of exhibition space each. Background
- According to US court records,TikTok employees repeatedly raised concerns internally about the risks the platform posed to children, including sexual exploitation and exposure to suicide content, but were ignored by leadership. Employees had raised alarm about minors appearing in sexual content on the app, that minors were using loopholes to bypass age restrictions, and that TikTok refrained from conducting surveys to assess the ages of its users. (National Public Radio)
- Amazon-owned IMDb has launched Connections, a new professional network that will seek to position the site as the LinkedIn for TV and film professionals. (Hollywood Reporter). Which B2B sectors might be next?
- “RELX shares are down significantly <28%> from their peak in 2025 after getting caught in the selloff in information services due to the AI-disruption narrative. We think its wide moat is secure, and it will benefit from AI through enhanced product innovation opportunities.” (Morningstar) Background
- Wall Street Journal is said to be planning “an ambitious slate of streaming TV” on YouTube including a 60-minute live morning news show (reportedly to compete with The Daily, the New York Times’ nine-year-old, top-rated podcast) and an interview programme with editor-in-chief Emma Tucker. (Business Insider)
- Beehiiv, the newsletter platform, has grown its advertising revenue 50% year-on-year and now has more than $35mn in annual run rate, meaning advertising is one-third of its overall business. The ad revenue is portioned among 13,000 independent publications on the platform that have opted into its Ad Network.
- “Spotify delivered another strong earnings report, but it continues to struggle to grow its advertising business despite having an enormous audience of free users. Why is Spotify having such a hard time? My theory is that audio advertising is much harder to scale across platforms than display or video advertising.” (Simon Owens Newsletter)
Have you booked yet?
- The Definitive AI Forum for Media, Information & Events 2026 on 18 November 2026, in London after a sellout in 2025. Click the link for full details of all 32 confirmed speakers from the UK, US and EU, including the CEOs and leaders of: CloserStill, Independent Media, Daily Mail, Taylor & Francis, Immediate Media, The Economist, The Channel Company, Forge, Bauer Media Group, RX, Easyfairs, Associated Press, Newsquest, TMT Finance, William Reed, PA Media Group, News UK, Financial Times, Informa, Terrapinn, Miso AI, and Sifted EU. Capacity is limited to 210. Launch discount for individuals and groups available now. Presented by Flashes & Flames.
