Complex Networks bills itself as one of the most diversified digital media companies in the business, so it’s counting on diversification to protect its business.
April 02, 2020

Complex Networks CEO Rich Antoniello has steered the media company away from an economic cliff before, so he’s following a similar strategy to now deal with the coronavirus pandemic -- expansion. “We’re not pulling the plug on anything that we had in the chambers or anticipated,” he said. Read more below.

Other things to know about
  • Sign up for the Digiday Future of TV Briefing for news and analysis on the broader TV, streaming and online video industry delivered to your inbox every Wednesday.
  • Even in the face of cookie restrictions and regulations, ad revenue remains the lifeblood for independent publishers —  but they’re using entirely new tactics to keep it pumping through their veins. In a webinar on April 13, at 3 p.m. EST, join experts from CafeMedia, Huge and Atlanta Black Star as they discuss revenue strategies in the privacy era. Sponsored by CafeMedia.
Top Stories
Coronavirus Fallout
Complex Networks bills itself as one of the most diversified digital media companies in the business, so it’s counting on diversification to protect its business.
howdy!
Coronavirus Fallout
For ad fraudsters, the coronavirus pandemic is a crisis too tempting to go to waste. Website traffic is surging. But with advertisers adding coronavirus-related keywords to their block lists and others pausing spend altogether, ad prices on news sites are low. With less competition in the auction, low quality ads — and even publishers’ own […]
Sponsored by Zephr
In the midst of a pandemic, the appetite for news and information has resulted in a spike in subscriptions for some publishers. In this new guide, learn tips and strategies for monetizing content at a time when advertising revenue is coming under increasing pressure
Advertisement
howdy!
Coronavirus Fallout
“Just salary cuts will at most bring the costs down by 10%, at most, I can guarantee,” one exec messaged me.
Sponsored by LiveRamp
In a post GDPR and post-cookie world, more publishers are making concerted efforts to explain the value of their content to users and increase the volume of consumer authentication.
howdy!
Coronavirus Fallout
Last month, Anheuser-Busch announced that it would use its production lines to produce hand sanitizer to help consumers amid the coronavirus pandemic. But that’s only one way the world’s largest beer company is changing the way it operates during this crisis. As the situation has evolved, the company has developed initiatives aimed at helping consumers […]
Advertisement
Sponsored by Simulmedia
In a new guide for brand and agency marketers, learn the most cutting-edge measurement and attribution techniques preferred by advertisers that have successfully scaled their TV budgets.
howdy!
WTF Programmatic
Post-auction discounts let advertisers compete in the auction as if it bid $6 or $7 or more, but then benefit from a discount after winning the auction.
howdy!
Coronavirus Fallout
Highsnobiety was one of a few publishers who invested in product creation for its commerce business, rather than just peppering its site with affiliate links.
For publishing companies to survive a global crisis like the one we're in, Rich Antoniello's formula is 'brand, plus brains, plus balance sheet." He would know, having stewarded Complex through the 2008 financial crisis as CEO, the role he still holds now. But compared to that, the downturn brought about by the coronavirus pandemic is "infinitely more difficult," Antoniello said on the Digiday Podcast.
You received this email because you’re a member of the Digiday community. If someone forwarded this to you, subscribe for yourself here .
I don't want to hear from Digiday anymore. Stop receiving all Digiday emails.
Digiday Media, One Liberty Plaza, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10006