[rchaud]

A digital-only publication cannot survive without playing the same content strategy games as all the other publications out there.

A new BYTE would quickly start diluting its value by offering a podcast, YT channel, IG/Snap Stories, affiliate links and a website slathered with Adsense ads. You'll wonder why they bothered rebooting it in the first place.

[ddingus]

Or... It's subscription only, and maybe those other things don't matter so much.

[datavirtue]

No one can resist adsense. "Yeah let's just skip out on that $50k a month, our customers don't want to see all those ads." The incintive, like free money for corporate stock buybacks, is just irresistible.

[ddingus]

All depends on the format, does it not?

A printed publication, perhaps with audio supplement (podcast type thing), would not be a venue. And at the same time, may well be super compelling, given it has an industry voice and perspective similar to what BYTE had.

[rchaud]

MIT Technology Review is subscription-based and they have podcasts and YT channels. You could run expensive ads in print mags like Scientific American or Harvard Business Review, but you'll reach a far bigger audience online.

This will be true even if the subscription fee was hundreds of dollars per year. Podcasts and short videos are effectively low-cost infomercials for your product. Their purpose is not to make revenue by reading out intermittent ads, but attract an audience that might subscribe.

[ddingus]

Agreed, and those things can even deliver some value and remain sales tools for the main product.

I fail to see how doing those things has to dilute the main product.