Channels with Peter Kafka

J2 Global CEO Vivek Shah talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about running the company that owns a portfolio of digital brands, including Mashable, PCMag and Speedtest.In this episode: What J2 Global is; the importance of having multiple revenue streams in media; how Shah turned Ziff Davis around; why much of J2's business is built around performance marketing and affiliate commerce; buying Mashable and returning it to profitability; bidding for Gawker Media and what J2 would have done with it; making the cultures of acquired media companies fit within the larger company; the silver lining of the media industry's troubles; what J2 wants to buy; why Speedtest is so valuable; is increasing awareness of and regulation around privacy a problem for that business?; Humble Bundle and the most important equation for building a subscription business; and why "we are the largest internet company that many people have never heard of."Thanks to Microsoft Azure for sponsoring this episode. Get started with a free account and 12 months of popular free services at Azure.com/trial today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about the potential of 5G internet, AT&T's 2018 acquisition of Time Warner and how the company is thinking about sports gambling in the U.S.In this episode: What does 5G internet actually mean for consumers?; when will 5G be ubiquitous in major cities?; why it will eventually replace home broadband; the rise of professional sports gambling; cord cutting and the TV rights to broadcast sports; buying sports games a la carte and leagues becoming direct distributors; competing in video-on-demand with Apple, Netflix and Disney; integrating the cultures of AT&T and Time Warner.Thanks to Microsoft Azure for sponsoring this episode. Get started with a free account and 12 months of popular free services at Azure.com/trial today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Indie.vc founder Bryce Roberts discusses the limitations of venture capital, the diversity of founders supported by Indie.vc, and the changing landscape of media investments. The podcast challenges traditional VC models, highlights successful alternative funding approaches, and explores the importance of matching funding options with founder desires for business success.

Gimlet co-founders Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber talk with Recode's Peter Kafka about selling their company to Spotify. Then later in the show, Fortune Media Group CEO Alan Murray sits down with Peter to talk about selling Fortune to a Thai billionaire and navigating its transition into new digital challenges.In the Gimlet interview: "We didn't leak the story, I don't know who did"; Blumberg and Lieber's interactions with Gimlet staff since Recode's scoop on Friday; why the acquisition makes sense; how Spotify became a distribution partner and when acquisition talks started; could Gimlet have remained independent?; how much did Blumberg and Lieber's ability to personally profit influence the decision to sell?; listeners who invested in Gimlet's crowdfunding seed round will see a return; will Gimlet's existing shows become Spotify exclusives?And in the Murray interview: Fortune's acquisition and the end of Time Inc.; why it's hard to destroy legacy media brands; why it would be a problem if Time Magazine owner Marc Benioff had also bought Fortune; who is Fortune's new owner, Chatchaval Jiaravanon?; the "death sentence" of working with its old owner, Time Warner; how has Fortune changed since Jiaravanon bought it?; developing and scaling up live events to make them both accessible and valuable; advertising-supported businesses and Fortune's competitors; Murray's background at the Wall Street Journal and why Rupert Murdoch is "the best thing that could have happened" to the paper; developing the WSJ's ultimately unsuccessful iPad app, The Daily; President Trump's lies and attacks on journalism; and and how other media outlets are alienating his supporters.Thanks to Microsoft Azure for sponsoring this episode. Get started with a free account and 12 months of popular free services at Azure.com/trial today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of the New York Times, talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about her new book, Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts.In this episode: Why Abramson wrote Merchants of Truth; why she focused on the New York Times, the Washington Post, BuzzFeed and Vice; the recent layoffs at BuzzFeed and why it's now "winter" for digital media; is the New York Times unfairly targeting Facebook in its reporting?; the criticism Merchants of Truth has received before publication; the shrinking wall between business and editorial interests at the Times; the media is critical of President Trump — is that a problem?; the surprising happiness at the Washington Post; Abramson's fact-checking process; and the crisis in local news.Thanks to Microsoft Azure for sponsoring this episode. Get started with a free account and 12 months of popular free services at Azure.com/trial today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about the problematic state of the political media in the Trump era.In this episode: Why 2020 will be even worse for the political press than 2016; alternatives to "horse race" political coverage; how the Democrats' takeover of the House of Representatives is encouraging the media's worst habits; media outlets that anger liberal audiences; the state of Trump journalism; Rosen grades the different roles of the press; the repeated failure of the press to reflect on its own failings; should the press always carry a televised address from the president?; and an alternative model for journalism, The Correspondent, that is launching soon in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Axios' Dan Primack, the author of the Pro Rata business newsletter, talks with Recode's Peter Kafka.In this episode: Why Dan Primack didn't start his own site like other star journalists; economic predictions for 2019, including what companies will go public this year; whether those companies will mimic Spotify's direct listing IPO instead of going through a bank; predictions for the media industry; what journalists get wrong about business and what businesses like Facebook get wrong about journalists; and Axios' controversial HBO interview with President Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harvard Law School professor Susan Crawford talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about her new book, Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution—and Why America Might Miss It. In this episode: (01:22) Crawford's book and the state of fiber internet in America; (05:39) Why fiber is like electricity; (11:19) Why isn't fiber everywhere already?; (16:01) The failure of Google Fiber and how someone could bring fiber everywhere; (20:07) Politics and 5G; (23:32) Tech giants and net neutrality; (27:11) The political will to get fiber into homes; (30:21) What cities in the US are doing fiber right? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘It took us a while to figure out what our real value is to the universe’ - Neil Vogel, CEO of Dot Dash, talks about - ‘About.com’, and the challenges of turning around an internet property in decline. Also: building brands with real value to consumers, and how Vogel built up the Webby Awards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"A real life Black Mirror story, a cautionary tale," is how director Hao Wu describes his new documentary, 'People's Republic of Desire.' Recode's Kara Swisher talks to Hao Wu, alongside Loretta Chao, a former WSJ reporter who covers tech in China, about streaming culture in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices