Got an update from Wade Wallace this morning, it looks like they have a new platform being announced in one way or another on March 1.
I don't think this is reading between the lines but simply reading what he wrote - it sounds as if they will be launching this platform and then opening memberships. If they don't get a critical mass, then they pull the pin.
I hope it goes well for them, I miss reading CT.
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Quote:
Dear readers,
First off I’d like to thank the thousands of you who filled out our survey a couple weeks ago. The insights we gained from this were both interesting and encouraging. I’m aware that it’s heavily skewed towards people who support our vision, but that doesn’t concern me. The wonderful thing about the membership model is that we are tailoring it especially for you, not anybody else.
A few takeaways that I wanted to share with you:
The majority of you strongly connect with an author/journalist and will consume almost anything she/he creates. It’s not so much the headline that makes you dive in. It’s more about the personal connection with the author and trust that it will be interesting.
Most of you enjoy content that is led by informed opinion or strong point of view. That includes reviews, analysis, podcasts. (In my experience, this is only good if the audience agrees with that opinion!) You also value in-depth feature reporting. We hear you on that.
Many of you feel that women’s cycling is still underserved.
The perception that content is often influenced by advertisers is a big theme we’ve picked up from this survey. Advertising is not bad, but you say that the misaligned incentives inherent to the business model has reached rock bottom. I couldn’t agree more. Cycling deserves better.
Most of you are willing to support creators of good content by paying for it.
It wasn’t a comprehensive survey, but it confirmed a few of my assumptions and I always love reading the open ended responses. Thank you to all who took the time to help.
Next Steps
In my view there is only one way forward for a new cycling media business, and that is a membership funded one. A business mostly funded by advertising is not going to get us to where we need to go. I’ve already been down that road and I won’t go there again. I’d rather drive for Uber as a job.
On March 1 we will be testing out the viability and appetite to see if a member funded cycling media organisation will work. I’ve run the numbers and we know how many members we need to get started. If we don’t get enough members, then we pack our bags, admit that we got it wrong, and you’ll never hear from us again. Please give me a good rating on Uber.
It’s nearly time. We're going for it. We hope enough of you believe in our mission and trust that we can add value to the cycling ecosystem. I like to think that we made a sizeable impact before, and with you we can do it even better again.
What you can do to help
Stay tuned, make sure these emails don’t go into spam, and please share with someone who you feel would be interested. Let’s do this!
Wade Wallace
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