Vox Media

Vox Media, Inc.
Formerly
 SportsBlogs Inc. (2005–2011)
Private
Industry Digital media
Founded July 14, 2005 (2005-07-14)
Founders
Headquarters Washington, D.C., U.S.
Key people
Brands
Website voxmedia.com

Vox Media, Inc. is an American digital media based in Washington, D.C. and New York City.[2] The company founded in July 2005 as SportsBlogs Inc. by Jerome Armstrong, Tyler Bleszinski, and Markos Moulitsas, and was refounded as Vox Media in 2011 by Joshua Topolsky.[3][4] Vox Media owns seven editorial brands—The Verge, Vox, SB Nation, Eater, Polygon, Curbed and Recode—and formerly also Racked. Vox Media's brands are built on Concert, a publisher-led market place for advertising, and Chorus, its proprietary content management system.[5]

The company owns and operates offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, and San Francisco. The network features over 300 sites with over 400 paid writers.[6][7]

History

Founding and expansion in sports media

Vox Media was founded in 2005 as SportsBlogs, Inc., the parent company of the sports blog network SB Nation, by political strategist Jerome Armstrong, freelance writer Tyler Bleszinski, and Markos Moulitsas (creator of Daily Kos).[6][7] The site was a spin-off and expansion of Tyler Bleszinski's Oakland Athletics blog Athletics Nation, which sought to provide coverage of the team from a fan's perspective. The popularity of the site led to other sports blogs being incorporated.[8]

In 2008, SB Nation hired former AOL executive Jim Bankoff as CEO to assist in its growth. He showed interest in SB Nation's goal of building a network of niche-oriented sports websites.[8][9] As of February 2009, the SB Nation network contained 185 blogs, and in November 2010, ComScore estimated that the site had attracted 5.8 million unique visitors. The 208 percent increase in unique visitors over November 2009 made SB Nation the fastest-growing sports website the company tracked at the time.[10]

Continued growth and expansion into other content areas

In 2011, Bankoff hired a number of former writers from AOL's technology blog Engadget, including former editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky, to build a new technology-oriented website.[8] They had originally left AOL following a series of conflicts between Topolsky and Michael Arrington, author of TechCrunch (which AOL had recently acquired), and the leak of an internal training document that outlined a content strategy for AOL's blogs that prioritized profitability. Bankoff felt that a technology-oriented website would complement SB Nation due to their overlapping demographics.[9] In November, the renamed Vox Media officially launched The Verge, with Topolsky as editor-in-chief.[9][11]

In 2012, Vox launched a video gaming website, Polygon, led by former Joystiq editor Christopher Grant.[12]

In November 2013, Vox Media acquired the Curbed network, which consisted of the real-estate blog network Curbed, the food blog Eater, and the fashion blog Racked.[13]

In April 2014, the company launched an eponymous news website, Vox.com. Led by former Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein, Vox.com was positioned as a general interest news service with a focus on providing additional context to recurring subjects within its articles.[14][15]

In March 2015, Vox Media formed a new division known as Vox Entertainment and signed with WME. The division was created to expand the company's presence in developing online video programming.[16]

In May 2015, Vox Media acquired Recode, a technology industry news website that was founded by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the former editors of The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD.[17]

On May 30, 2017, Vox Media announced that it had entered into an agreement to provide technology and advertising sales for Bill Simmons' sports website The Ringer, as part of a revenue sharing agreement.[18]

Employment and labor

In January 2018, Vox Media agreed to recognize a labor union being formed by its editorial staff with the Writers Guild of America, East.[19]

On February 21, 2018, it was reported that Vox would be laying off around 50 employees, particularly surrounding video production. CEO Jim Bankoff stated previously that the company planned to exit native video for Facebook due to "unreliable monetization and promotion". The memo announcing the layoffs argued that despite its success, native video "won't be viable audience or revenue growth drivers for us relative to other investments we are making", and that the company wanted to focus more on podcasting and Vox Entertainment.[20] The layoffs represented around 5% of Vox's workforce.[21]

Funding

In December 2014, Vox Media raised a $46.5 million round led by the growth equity firm General Atlantic, estimating the media company's value at around $380 million.[22] Participants in Vox Media's previous rounds include Accel Partners, Comcast Ventures, and Khosla Ventures. Other funders are Allen & Company, Providence Equity Partners, and various angel investors, including Ted Leonsis, Dan Rosensweig, Jeff Weiner, and Brent Jones.[7][23][24] According to sources, the Series C in May 2012, valued Vox at $140 million.[25] A Series D valued the company north of $200M, raising an additional $40M[26][27]

In August 2015, NBCUniversal made a $200 million equity investment in Vox Media, valuing the company at more than $1 billion.[28]

Properties

Vox Media is made up of seven media brands: The Verge (technology, culture, and science), Vox (general interest news), SB Nation (sports), Polygon (gaming), Eater (Food and Nightlife), Curbed (real estate and home), and Recode (technology business).[29]

SB Nation

SB Nation (originally known as Sports Blog Nation) is a sports blogging network, founded by Tyler Bleszinski and Markos Moulitsas in 2005. The blog from which the network formed was started by Bleszinski as Athletics Nation in 2003, and focused solely on the Oakland Athletics.[30] It has since expanded to cover sports franchises on a national scale, including all Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League teams, as well as college and soccer teams, totaling over 300 community sites.[31][32] In 2011, the network expanded into technology content with The Verge, leading to the parent company Sports Blogs Inc. being rebranded as Vox Media.[31][33] Vox Media's chief executive, Jim Bankoff, has served as SB Nation's CEO since 2009.[31] The network expanded into radio programming in mid-2016 with SB Nation Radio, in partnership with Gow Media.[34]

The Verge

The Verge is a technology news site, which launched on November 1, 2011; it was originally staffed by former employees of Engadget, including former editor Joshua Topolsky and the new site's editor-in-chief Nilay Patel.[35] While Topolsky and his team were developing the new site, a "placeholder" site called This Is My Next was created to allow them to continue writing articles and producing podcasts.[36] Topolsky described the site as being an "evolved version of what we [had] been doing [at AOL]."[37][38]

As of February 2014, the site had 7.9 million unique visitors according to ComScore.[39]

Vox

Vox launched in April 2014; it is a news website that employs explanatory journalism. The site's editor-in-chief is Lauren Williams.

Polygon

The video game website Polygon launched in 2012 as Vox Media's third property, and publishes news, culture, reviews, and videos.[40][41] The site's founding staff included the editors-in-chief of the gaming sites Joystiq, Kotaku (Brian Crecente), and The Escapist.[42] Staff published on The Verge as "Vox Games" beginning in February 2012, and launched as Polygon in October.[41] The network features long-form journalism that focuses on the people making and playing the games rather than the games alone, and uses a "direct content sponsorship" model of online advertising.[42][43] Christopher Grant serves as the current editor.[44]

Curbed

Curbed is a real-estate/home website that reaches beyond New York City to publish in 32 markets across the U.S. It was founded in 2004 as a side project by Lockhart Steele, managing editor of Gawker Media. Curbed was bought by Vox Media when the company acquired Curbed Network in November 2013 for $20–30 million in cash and stock.[45] In addition to the national site, Curbed has local sites for Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Cape Cod, Chicago, Detroit, Hamptons, New York City, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Ski. The Editor in Chief is Kelsey Keith.

Eater

Eater is a food and dining network of sites, offering reviews and news about the restaurant industry. The network was founded by Lockhart Steele and Ben Leventhal in 2005, and originally focused on dining and nightlife in New York City. Eater launched a national site in 2009,[46] and covered nearly 20 cities by 2012.[47] Vox Media acquired Eater, along with two others comprising the Curbed Network, in late 2013.[48] In 2017, Eater had around 25 local sites in the United States in Canada, and launched its first international site in London.[49] The site has been recognized four times by the James Beard Foundation Awards.[50][51]

Recode

Vox Media acquired technology news website Recode in May 2015.[52]

Former properties

Racked

Racked was a retail/shopping website which covers style. It was acquired by Vox Media when the company acquired Curbed Network in November 2013.[45] In December 2014, the site had 11.2 million page views and 8 million unique visitors.[53] In addition to the national site, Racked has local sites for Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, and San Francisco.[54][55] The editor-in-chief is Britt Aboutaleb.[56] Racked was folded into Vox in September 2018.[57]

References

  1. ↑ Grinapol, Corinne (February 6, 2017). "Vox Media Names Trei Brundrett as Its First COO". Adweek. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Digital Media Hub Vox Valued at $1B as NBCUniversal Invests". Inc.com. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Bloomberg Hires a Founder of The Verge to Lead Online Initiatives".
  4. ↑ "Bloomberg Hires a Founder of The Verge to Lead Online Initiatives". Retrieved July 3, 2018. Mr. Topolsky, who was the editor in chief of the technology site Engadget until 2011, helped to found The Verge, and was one of the creators of its parent company, Vox Media.
  5. ↑ Leslie Kaufman, "Vox Takes Melding of Journalism and Technology to a New Level," The New York Times, April 6, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Plambeck, Joeseph (June 6, 2010). "Sports-Centric Web Sites Expand, and Bias Is Welcome". New York Times.
  7. 1 2 3 Kerr, Ronny (November 8, 2010). "Sports blog and news network continues its rise". Vator.tv.
  8. 1 2 3 "The Raid On AOL: How Vox Pillaged Engadget And Founded An Empire". Business Insider. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 "Interview with Jim Bankoff, CEO of SBNation.com". Inc.com. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  10. ↑ Overly, Steven (December 20, 2010). "SB Nation's sports blogger collective sees bias as a plus". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  11. ↑ Albanesius, Chloe (April 4, 2011). "Engadget's Topolsky, Former Editors Starting New Rival Tech Site". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on May 4, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  12. ↑ Brian Solomon. "The Inside Story Of Polygon, The Verge's New Gaming Sister-Site". Forbes. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ Kaufman, Leslie (November 10, 2013). "Vox Media Buying Curbed.com Network of Sites". New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  14. ↑ Carr, David (January 26, 2014). "Ezra Klein Is Joining Vox Media as Web Journalism Asserts Itself". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  15. ↑ Kaufman, Leslie (April 6, 2014). "Vox Takes Melding of Journalism and Technology to a New Level". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Vox Media Launches Entertainment Division, Signs With WME (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  17. ↑ Ember, Sydney (May 26, 2014). "Vox Media Adds ReCode to Its Stable of Websites". The New York Times. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Bill Simmons' The Ringer Inks Advertising, Tech Pact With Vox Media". Variety. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Vox Media agrees to recognize labor union". New York Post. January 11, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Vox Media Laying Off Around 50 Staffers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  21. ↑ Spangler, Todd (February 21, 2018). "Vox Media Lays Off 50 Staffers, or 5% of Workforce". Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  22. ↑ Catherine Shu. "Vox Media Raises $46.5M At A Reported $380M Valuation". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Blog network SportsBlog Nation scores funding". CNET.com. October 29, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
  24. ↑ Ali, Rafat (July 16, 2009). "Sports Blog Site SBNation Gets $8 Million More, From Comcast And Others". Paid Content. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
  25. ↑ Solomon, Brian (December 6, 2012). "Meet The Digital Upstart That Thinks Millions Of Rowdy Fans Are The Future Of The Web". Forbes. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Vox Media aims to obtain USD40 million funding via Accel Partners". VC Post. October 16, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Vox Media aims to obtain USD40 million funding via Accel Partners". Venture Capital Post. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  28. ↑ Brian Stelter (August 12, 2015). "NBCUniversal invests big in Vox Media". CNNMoney. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  29. ↑ Lukas I. Alpert. "Comcast Invests $200 Million in Vox Media". WSJ. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  30. ↑ Orlando, Dan (July 12, 2013). "What's the future of the sports-blogging industry? Here are 3 different answers from rival contenders". New York Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  31. 1 2 3 Lincoln, Kevin (January 9, 2012). "The Raid on AOL: How Vox Pillaged Engadget and Founded an Empire". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  32. ↑ Warzel, Charlie (September 25, 2012). "SB Nation Relaunches, Hires First Editorial Director". Adweek. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  33. ↑ Swisher, Kara (April 3, 2011). "SB Nation Sacks AOL in Raid of Former Engadget Team for Competing New Tech Site, As AOL Zeroes in on New EiC". All Things Digital. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  34. ↑ Fox, Brooke (July 18, 2016). "SB Nation Expands Into Radio Programming With Gow Media Accord". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  35. ↑ Carr, David (April 3, 2011). "Team From Engadget Makes Jump to SB Nation". The New York Times.
  36. ↑ "Latest Gadget Reviews – The Verge". Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Topolsky and Bankoff on Engadget, SB Nation, and the new tech site that's bringing them together » Nieman Journalism Lab". Nieman Lab. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  38. ↑ "With The Verge, SB Nation looks beyond just gadgets". Fortune. Archived from the original on May 4, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Vox Media's The Verge Staffs Up Culture Coverage". Advertising Age. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  40. ↑ Duryee, Tricia (October 24, 2012). "Let the Games Begin: Vox Media Launches a New Site Covering Videogames". All Things Digital. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  41. 1 2 Swisher, Kara (February 21, 2012). "On the Verge Again: Vox Media Officially Launches Into Videogames Content Arena". All Things Digital. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  42. 1 2 Solomon, Brian (October 24, 2012). "The Inside Story Of Polygon, The Verge's New Gaming Sister-Site". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  43. ↑ Stark, Chelsea (October 25, 2012). "Veteran Game Journalists Unite to Launch Vox's 'Polygon'". Mashable. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  44. ↑ Beaujon, Andrew (October 25, 2012). "Why Polygon takes video-games journalism seriously". Poynter. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  45. 1 2 Hempel, Jessi (November 11, 2013). "Vox Media acquires Curbed Network for $20-30M". Fortune. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  46. ↑ Druckman, Charlotte (October 6, 2009). "The Insiders: Ben Leventhal and Lockhart Steele". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  47. ↑ Midson, Lori (December 1, 2011). "Eater launches Denver food site". Westword. Voice Media Group. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  48. ↑ Hempel, Jessi (November 11, 2013). "Vox Media acquires Curbed Network for $20-30M". Fortune. Meredith Corporation. ISSN 0015-8259. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  49. ↑ Guaglione, Sara (July 12, 2017). "Vox Launches 'Eater London,' Company's First". MediaPost Communications. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  50. ↑ "The 2015 James Beard Award Winners!". James Beard Foundation. May 4, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  51. ↑ "The 2016 James Beard Award Winners!". James Beard Foundation. May 2, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  52. ↑ Ember, Sydney (May 26, 2015). "Vox Media Adds ReCode to Its Stable of Websites". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  53. ↑ Steigrad, Alexandra. "Vox Media Looks to Racked for Growth". WWD. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  54. ↑ Steigrad, Alexandra (January 11, 2016). "Racked Poaches New Editor in Chief From Yahoo Style". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  55. ↑ Meltzer, Marisa (May 18, 2016). "The Last Days of Scoop". The New York Times.
  56. ↑ Shepard, Eliot (January 29, 2015). "About". Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  57. ↑ https://wwd.com/business-news/media/vox-is-folding-racked-1202720434/
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