#415: Jon Steinberg on The Current State of Media

— Jon Steinberg's career path from Disney Imagineer through BuzzFeed to founding Cheddar, a live business news network focused on video distribution across multiple platforms.

— Cheddar's strategic distribution across FAST systems (free ad-supported television), gas station screens (GSTV), college campuses (Cheddar U), and OTT platforms to reach scale without relying on a single channel.

— The decision to sell Cheddar to Altice, motivated by media industry consolidation, the rising costs of competing against larger incumbents, and the analogy of independent media as drug discovery requiring massive distribution infrastructure.

— The importance of distribution over content; measurement and Nielsen ratings remain significant challenges for scaling independent media properties.

— Emerging monetization models in media: subscriptions (newsletters, Substack), advertising (traditional and programmatic), and e-commerce; most creators rely on advertising or sponsorships in various forms.

— Broader investment themes Steinberg finds compelling: financial services startups, personal finance, connected fitness, and online retail disruption (Carvana as exemplar).

— Independent media companies should focus on content creation (the "drug") and partner with larger incumbents for distribution and infrastructure rather than build redundant systems in-house; this applies whether exiting or scaling.

— Distribution and platform positioning matter more than content quality alone; prioritize placement on high-growth FAST systems (Pluto, Roku, Tubi, Samsung TV+) and track which platforms deliver real audience scale, not just vanity metrics.

— Measurement remains a bottleneck for smaller media; push for standardized metrics (Nielsen, Comscore) to unlock advertiser confidence and premium pricing at scale.