Nick Denton Comments

eyjafjallajökull — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:06:53 EDT

@Korrupt: did you get 'it'?

#whitenoise

eyjafjallajökull

Nick Denton — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:10:14 EDT

@Peter Feld: I was genuinely pessimistic -- and had been ever since 2006 or so. You forget how badly I was traumatized by the dotcom bust. I'm always expecting history to repeat itself. People said then that the internet would be immune because it was so measurable; they were deluding themselves.

There was indeed one strategic decision: it wasn't so much the exaggeration of our plight as an attempt to nationalize it. If we'd merely cut our own costs, we'd have been crucified. By pointing to the broader threat to all media companies, there was a chance our layoffs would be seen as necessary and nimble rather than merely the desperate action of a yet another flailing internet venture.

I'm sad we had to shed so many sites and excellent writers last year. (We're down to nine properties from 15 at the start of last year.) But we did manage to focus our energies on our fastest-growing and most commercially promising properties -- which is one of the reasons we've managed to buck the advertising downturn. And we've resumed hiring -- one of the very few media companies to do so this year.

Nick Denton

Gawker Media revenues up 45% in first half

Peter Feld — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:44:11 EDT

OK, but there are more than those two possibilities. ("Right and thriving" comes to mind.) I think it was clear at the time -- to many -- that the dire prediction was intentionally overstated to provide the twin benefits of being provocative (generating ink and pixels) and justifying harsh layoffs and pay cuts that were win-win (you come out ahead whether they were needed or not). In other words, that pessimism was not so much congenital as it was strategic. This graph suggests you'd be profitable even without the steep drop in expenses after 2008 Q4 - though, certainly, less than you are now.

Congrats on the profits, it is no small achievement in this media economy and I am encouraged to see signs that creative new media can make money. I only wish you still had a few of those writers whose departures were not critical to the positive bottom line.

Peter Feld

Gawker, now incorporating Defamer

Dagrolord — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:24:49 EST

Arriving to this announcement very late, I want to wish the new,'nationalized' Gawker the very best. Thanks for keeping us Southern Folk connected to Civilization.

Dagrolord

Pay_Me_Or_Pay_Me_No_Attention — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:56:32 EST

It doesn't really matter.

www.diaryofahollywoodstreetking.com

Has been killing anything and everything done over at Defamer and Gawker.

Jacky Jasper - Author and Proprietor, is not a gossip, but rather an independent musician rap and rock artist who has recorded with many including Snoop, Ike Turner, Rick James, Ice-T, Kool Keith, Slash and many others is using this site to sell his music.

He lures traffic by laying down all the bullshit Gawker and TMZ are being bribed to not print.

Jacky is punk rock and doesn't give a fuck about Hollywood and tells all the dark shit to generate traffic and sell records.

In other words, not like Perez or Trent or Denton, and outsider looking in.

But rather a true player playing in the game and very tight with Black Hollywood who has no problem gossiping and telling it like it is (and they will give you the real dirt on EVERYBODY) and wants to just shed light on all the real darkness and dysfunction that is really Los Angeles.

Go ahead and make a play for him Denton. Perez fucked with him and got smacked down hard. Russel Simmons try to buy his site in an attempt to steal your hussle and Jacky told him to eat a verga.

You're too corporate now Denton, you lost your edge.

Jacky Jasper the Pimp is about to take your game and then your money.

www.diaryofahollywoodstreetking.com

An edgy truthful site that makes this place feel like Reader's Digest.

You're on it with I09 and Kotaku. Hopefully you won't douche Crecente as bad as you did Lisanti. And if it's true that you're dumping Io9...Oh man...how many times can you shoot your self in the leg?

Pay_Me_Or_Pay_Me_No_Attention

Gawker, now incorporating Defamer

HopeCA — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:55:47 EST

GAWKER MEDIA moves one step closer to irrelevance. What a shame and waste of opportunity.

Ken Layne — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:30:10 EST

Good lord, Nick, your abandoned blog has become a nuevo Gawker site, about the Depression.

I am sorry to hear about Valleywag and Consumerist joining the Dead Pool of other killed Gawker sites, mostly edited by me, and I hope these good writers quickly secure new incomes.

Ugh.

Ken Layne

A 2009 Internet Media Plan

ADismalScience — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:01:41 EST

Good LORD is bandwidth expensive. Watching your cost base ride those Q4 spikes is jarring. Might want to get out of those per-kilowatt centers! Have you considered owning more of your infrastructure, even though integrating that would be zero fun for you?

Also, were I staff, I'd probably be clamoring for more responsive per-pageview rates based on your inflows. Just out of curiosity, do you have the same charts with and without variable compensation?

ADismalScience

A 2009 Internet Media Plan

Rabbi Dave — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:12:09 EST

You forget what the heck happens if the Detroit 3 go under? They're one of the largest group of advertisers out there. Heck, even if they get a bailout, ad spending will be way down. Chrysler has NO new products planned for the 2009 calendar year for example.

Rabbi Dave

A 2009 Internet Media Plan

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:39:11 EST

Damn Nick you give seriously good chart.

Annalee Newitz

A 2009 Internet Media Plan

I'm Waitin' for Dolemite — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:07:14 EST

I, for one, eagerly await the Árpád Tóta or János Mikszáth "insider" take on Manhattan media.

I'm Waitin' for Dolemite

A 2009 Internet Media Plan

Kira Smith — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:18:06 EST

Gawker Media could adopt the Nonsociety business plan, "pay per plug"...

...on the other hand, forcing writers to switch from solid food to Blueprint Cleanse juices seems cruel, even for an evil overlord.

Kira Smith

A 2009 Internet Media Plan

X on the MTA — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:10:17 EST

Hmmmm, I kind of buy it. I don't know what tech costs are like for Gawker, but assuming stability in the platform, the MCV (Marginal Cost of a PageView) should be decline over the long run even if it rises over the short-run. Since traffic growth has been steadily increasing and shows no signs of a reversal, we can safely assume short-run increasing tech costs as the potential revenue of a pageview declines. This would explain the recent layoffs and the returement of the pageview bonus.

My guess is that IT-staff will remain a constant at least in the short-run, so the only place to cust costs is either eliminating properties (and therefore revenue) or eliminating writers unless you can increase traffic enough to offset the downward pressure CPM, both from increasing inventory and decreasing demand.

It seems hard to imagine you could get more out of your writers, they already post a large number of items a day, so you'll have to pay them less. It's hard to imagine that quality won't slide if pay is cut or post requirements are raised, which may cost Nick his much coveted CPM rates, which are impressive without a doubt.

If you remember this ([gawker.com]) comment, then things don't look so honky-dory anymore and Mr Denton's pessimism may seem pretty sound.

So, c'mon Nick, what's the marginal cost of a million pageviews?

X on the MTA

A 2009 Internet Media Plan

Peter Feld — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:31:14 EST

"Flat is the new up" isn't so new, it got a good workout in the early 0's during the last downturn. But maybe this time down 20% will be the new up.

Peter Feld