How Joey Chung of TNL Mediagene acquires media companies… as a media company

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Nov 28, 2023

Joey Chung, CEO and co-founder of TNL Mediagene, discusses the dynamic journey of transforming a niche Taiwanese news outlet into a thriving media group with 29 brands across Asia. He shares insights on their strategic acquisitions averaging one every six months, revealing the challenges of sustaining growth in a small market. Joey emphasizes the crucial balance between investor expectations and maintaining media integrity while exploring diverse monetization avenues, including tech services and data analytics.

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ANECDOTE

Rapid Acquisition Growth Story

TNL MediaGene grew through nine acquisitions in four and a half years, doubling its brands from one to 29.
This aggressive M&A transformed them from a single news brand to a diversified media group across multiple regions and languages.

INSIGHT

Small Market Growth Plateau

Joey Chung realized Taiwan's market size capped growth potential with 7 million monthly uniques in a 10 million news audience.
This plateau spurred pivoting from organic growth to acquiring other media companies to accelerate expansion.

INSIGHT

Media Industry Consolidation Insight

Market research showed most independent Asian media companies lose money; new entrants would likely do the same.
This realization shifted strategy to consolidate existing media companies instead of creating new ones.

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TNL MediaGene, formerly the News Lens, is a case study in strategic media company acquisitions. Over the past four and a half years, they executed nine acquisitions — averaging one every six months. Originally focused on independent digital news in Taiwan, they expanded across Asia and recognised the need to pivot as growth plateaued.

This led to a transformation into a media group, acquiring smaller verticals and diversifying into MarTech, AdTech, and data analytics. The company now boasts 29 media brands, six offices, and approximately 560 employees, 80% of whom came through acquisitions.

With a strategy yielding 50 to 60 million monthly unique readers, monetisation sources include media advertising, data analytics, AI, SaaS, tech services, e-commerce, agency communications, paid events, and memberships.

As Joey Chung, the CEO and co-founder explained at Splice Beta 2023, the recent merger with MediaGene, a Japanese digital media player, demonstrates the company's evolution and strategic expansion beyond its Taiwanese roots.

1. Strategic Growth Challenges: Joey highlights the challenge of sustaining growth in a small market like Taiwan, especially when catering to a niche audience like news readers. The need to meet investor expectations while preserving the independent media ethos adds complexity to this growth strategy.

2. Venture Capital Influence: Early reliance on institutional VC funding forces the media brand to continuously meet growth milestones. Joey emphasises the pressure to demonstrate return on investment, which leads to exploring options like mergers and acquisitions as a strategic move to overcome the limitations of the small local market.

3. Pivoting for Sustainability: The realisation that horizontal growth into different content categories might not be financially viable prompts a pivotal shift in strategy. Instead of diversifying content offerings, the focus shifts to regional expansion and internationalisation, acknowledging the limitations of the small market dynamics in the digital media industry.

Joey Chung on LinkedIn
TNL Mediagene
Splice Beta 2023