Sessions 2

Cracking the vertical media model - STAT News

Location: 
ONLINE - CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME (CEST)
STAT is a health and medicine news site which launched in November 2015 and owned by Boston Globe Media Partners. STAT launched as a free, ad-supported business, but once launched, quickly looked to diversity it’s revenue streams. When they launched their subscription business, STAT Plus, four years ago, they hypothesized that the key to success would not only be to produce journalism that people would pay for, but also to figure out how to effectively get that news in front of them in multiple formats. They focused on hosting online chats, conference calls, and subscriber-only events. By thinking more holistically about the different target audiences for events, they were able to work across product, business and editorial teams to create a robust events product that addressed subscription, advertising, and consumer revenue needs. In 2019 STAT launched their first Summit that resulted in profits of up to $100,000 in ticket sales and nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in sponsorship. In 2019 they also launched a second premium subscription service in partnership with a company Slingshot Insights. The new product, STAT Expert Advantage, gives investors access to monthly subscriber-only conference calls between STAT reporters and key opinion leaders about market-moving health care topics. In 2020 STAT has led the way in global public health coverage with its expansive and authoritative coverage of COVID. The pandemic, and its impact on live events has also challenged them to rethink their event business as they shifted to virtual formats while maintaining their same revenue expectations. In 2020 STAT also launched a report business, producing six deep dive reports, sold individually at $499/report, on a broad mix of topics such as: Viral Vectors, Interpreting Clinical Trials, ranking biotech’s top VC firms, and wearables, nanotechnology, and top leaders in China Biopharma. Each report gives readers a deep dive into a topic, and gives STAT the opportunity to explore future niche coverage areas. Learn from Angus Macaulay about this incredible journey and what are the valuable lessons they have learned along the way.

Moderator 

Speakers 

  • Chief Revenue Officer, STAT (Boston Globe Media Partners), United States

Shariff