Why do big companies buy media brands, and what does it mean for local media?
Short answer
To reach their ideal buyers. HubSpot owns The Hustle and My First Million because those audiences are HubSpot's customers. With so many AI products around, the scarce asset is an audience, and a media brand is how you get one. Locally it's the same: an attorney, realtor or senior-care business should own the brand its buyers read.
I explain my whole business model with one analogy.
"The readers of the hustle are hub spots ideal clients entrepreneur's and business people, right? So hub spot literally is doing what I just told you."
What's the HubSpot and The Hustle model?
HubSpot sells software to entrepreneurs and business people. The Hustle's readers are entrepreneurs and business people. Owning the newsletter means HubSpot owns the attention of the exact people who buy its product. HubSpot also owns My First Million, one of the biggest business podcasts, for the same reason.
My version is the same idea in local newsletters instead of business newsletters. A local business owner, like a realtor, an attorney or a house flipper, owns the newsletter because its readers are the people who'll buy their service.
Why are these deals happening now?
News of tech and software companies buying podcasts and newsletters got people to realize the value of media brands. The second-order effect is the important part. With so many AI products and companies, what matters is having an audience. How do you get an audience? You build a media brand.
What does that mean for local media?
Everything trickles down to local later. Trends in B2B and national media show up in local afterward, so I think we're on the trend of where the world is going. We're just early. But nobody's doing it locally, and the play is big.
Why own the brand instead of advertising in one?
Optionality. If you own it, you can keep the leads, sell them to another agent or run whatever play you want. You're not renting your marketing. A lot of local newsletters already sell their real estate section to a realtor for about a thousand dollars a month. Owning the whole thing is a much bigger position. You're basically Meta in your towns.
How much is a buyer's audience worth?
Run the math for the business. Take a senior living facility charging around $7,000 a month, with residents who stay five to 10 years. That's six figures per client. Say the average lifetime value is $50K. How much would you pay to own the brand that reaches your ideal clients?
Who would buy a niche media brand?
Whoever sells to that audience. My senior-focused brand is the example. The plan is to build it for 18 months to two years and then sell it, not stay in the newsletter business forever. If we're collecting survey info from around 80% of subscribers, that data is the valuable asset. Likely buyers include private equity firms focused on senior businesses, which could market their own companies through it. For how I think about exit timing, see when to sell a newsletter business.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From Local Media HQ podcast conversations, client and partner calls, and my own notes, 2025-2026. Last updated .