Technology publisher Wired has seen revenue increase and readership grow under the leadership of Katie Drummond, who joined as editor-in-chief from Vice Media last August.
Condé Nast Real Estate’s global revenue has increased 6% since the beginning of the year, and commerce revenue has increased 35% since the beginning of the year, Drummond said. The privately held company declined to disclose financial details.
July was also Wired’s busiest month in five years, thanks to coverage of the CrowdStrike outage. Readership of the company’s products and recommendations is also up 10% year over year.
“My job is to manage and be accountable in a very direct way, not just for the journalism that we do, but to ensure that that is reflected in a strategic and coherent revenue plan. “I think it’s about making sure that we do that,” Drummond said. “I have a responsibility to not only produce best-in-class reporting, but also to ensure that our efforts lead to sustainable business.”
New editorial initiatives
The editorial and commercial growth follows a variety of new initiatives led by Drummond.
Immediately after Drummond’s appointment, Wired began a concerted effort to increase its political coverage, producing some of its most popular stories since then. An investigation into One Piece vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s Venmo connections has garnered coverage from news outlets around the world.
She also brought new recognition to several cornerstones of the Wired portfolio, rebranding tent pole event Rewired to The Big Interview and flagship podcast Gadget Lab to Uncanny Valley. Wired will be releasing a new video series on YouTube in October.
The company is also launching its first product awards, called Wired 101, in October. The new franchise is part of a business that significantly overcomes the traffic challenges faced by many in the affiliate industry and captures broader reader revenue. Mr. Drummond said the global nature of the brand and the authority it has developed in the field help energize the business.
But moving into politics is a particularly ambitious strategy given the brand safety concerns that often inhibit the ability to monetize political content.
Advertisers are reluctant to associate their brands with potentially divisive coverage, creating a dynamic that actively discourages news publishers from covering important topics. Still, Drummond said Wired hasn’t encountered any major commercial headwinds in its efforts.
The expanded editorial reach is part of Drummond’s new ethos, dubbed “Story Zero,” to orient the newsroom around the latest stories that set the global news agenda. Brand safety challenges aside, this strategy aims to make Wired indispensable to readers, which also strengthens our commitment to reader revenue.
“I am relentlessly committed to building a fearless news organization that can be a sustainable business across a variety of channels,” Drummond said. “If we can’t do that in a consistent way, we’re going to do something else.”
