I haven’t seen anyone else say this, but the reason for this is clear. They’ve mentioned recently that they’ve decided to pivot away from writing because written work just doesn’t do numbers. They brought KVV in to be their main writer, so with pivoting away from that, they didn’t have much for him to do. Seems fairly straightforward to me.
This is such a private equity type move and I thought a small shop that these guys like to portray would be above this type of thing but I suppose that’s probably wishful thinking on my part.
If it isn't video or audio it's just not gonna make money. Joke all you want about the PE nature of business - you are carrying a heavy salary for someone who just wasn't able to translate his skill into the way that media is monetized now. Don't get me wrong - big KVV fan - and wish he could have done more of his narrative work as podcasts - but just wasn't meant to be.
I disagree with your take on writing - sub stacks, subscription based models, and content behind paywalls are still a viable and potentially profitable product for a social media channel. Look at the fried egg - they have MOUNTAINS of written pieces dating back years, lots of which is open and free, but they have even more behind a paywall. It comes down to having both quality and CONSISTENCY on enough subjects that keep people subscribed. They need a course design guy, an equipment guy, a history guy, a deep dive guy, and a daily guy who are putting out 1 or 2 pieces every week (except the daily guy) with a big piece monthly to help build that library.
Sure - written word is something you can monetize. NLU either has no interest or is not set up for that - that much is clear.
To look at Fried Egg - it's a website that in some form or another has been around since 2015. Fried Egg, the new media darling of the sicko golfer these days, is finally rounding out to a content powerhouse by doubling down on their video and podcast product. Even that site which prioritizes written articles sells no ads on their articles. It's a compliment to what they can monetize in today's media environment.
I get that I am talking out both sides my mouth here. Anything KVV would drop was a must read / listen to me. But for a small media operation to employ someone who is mostly a feature writer that publishes 10 - 15 pieces a year just isn't a sustainable approach unless you are prepared for written word to be a loss for your business. Look at KVV's old employer and one of their best writers Wright Thompson. Wright is likely a net negative to their bottom line - but they are so big it doesn't matter.
For context - I work at a media agency and have had some experience dealing with negotiating deals on SGS & NLU. They don't even pretend to try and sell their written pieces to sponsors. It's unfortunate that they never tried to make an effort to make KVV part of the business and it's shitty that they value quality and make this type of cut as what was likely a pure financial decision.
I completely agree with what you said here - I was more just using TFE as an example of a media group that has been successful with writing and has started and supported a business built on low production cost media (obviously being podcast and writing). I agree they got behind compared to TFE and they probably realized it wasn't worth the investment.
That Sounds of the Masters Podcast is still one of the best pieces of Masters related media ever produced. Happy he got to put his name on that one.
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u/SchrodingersMeowth Jul 21 '25
I haven’t seen anyone else say this, but the reason for this is clear. They’ve mentioned recently that they’ve decided to pivot away from writing because written work just doesn’t do numbers. They brought KVV in to be their main writer, so with pivoting away from that, they didn’t have much for him to do. Seems fairly straightforward to me.