The Powers That Be: Daily Media Monday: Vox Spin Foreplay & Netflix’s Post-Saturation Scheme
Nov 10, 2025
In a lively chat, Jon Kelly, co-founder of Puck, reunites with Peter Hamby to dive into the intricacies of digital media. They discuss the potential spin-off of Vox Media's podcast business and the financial maneuvers behind it. The duo explores the pandemic's impact on podcast studios, highlighting how chat shows outperformed pricier scripted projects. They also analyze Netflix's strategies to combat saturation in the U.S. and its ambitious foray into podcasts, video, and gaming, sparking debate over its competition with YouTube.
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Post-Election Work Surge
- Peter Hamby describes the rush of work after election day even in off years, with lots of narrative building.
- He uses that to explain why recent weeks felt busier than expected for political content creators.
Podcasts Could Be Vox’s Most Valuable Asset
- Vox's podcast unit could become the valuable, scalable core while legacy publishing faces monetization limits.
- The possible split mirrors broader era-wide corrections in 2010s digital media funding and strategy.
Overraise Led To Strategic Resets
- Many 2010s digital media firms overraised chasing scale over quality, depressing valuations and prompting restructurings.
- Vox's recap and investor shifts set the stage for strategic splits between studio and publishing assets.
