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The Free Press, “heterodox” and anti-woke digital media outlet Recently purchased by Paramount Skydance It saw its web traffic surge a month before its founder, Bari Weiss, was named the new editor-in-chief of CBS News, for $150 million.
According to the writingIts staunchly pro-Israel publication, a news site that analyzes right-wing media, received 5.3 million visits during September, a 44 percent increase year-on-year.
Increased traffic for the media startup that Weisz launched a few years ago after famously leaving new York Times Its “illiberal atmosphere” and alleged left-wing editorial leanings will likely be promoted by Paramount chief David Ellison as justification for the hefty price paid for the site.
Despite the influx of readers and subscribers to Free Press in recent months (the Substack-based site claims 170,000 paid subscriptions), media business analysts have suggested that Ellison still overpaid to acquire the company – resulting in Weiss being named editorial leader of CBS News.
“The startup, which launches in 2021, is generating about $20 million in revenue, according to a person familiar with the matter. That means Paramount is paying 7.5 times revenue for the outlet,” Adweek’s Mark Steinberg. informed,
According to an interview with Four Digital Media, “Many people see this deal as being outside of normal media economics [Mergers and acquisitions] experts,” said Steinberg. “In most transactions, both legacy and digital outlets trade by five to 15 times [Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization]No revenue.”
Of course, Ellison — the son of Oracle founder and top Trump aide Larry Ellison — may not have been considering future revenues when it came to installing Weiss at the helm of CBS News and buying his site, which has devoted much of its energy to saving legacy media for its so-called indifference.
“It’s not a financial bet, it’s a cultural bet. Ellison isn’t buying revenue; he’s buying alignment,” Business Insider’s peter kafka wrote,
He said, “Maybe Ellison, who previously supported Democrats — or his father, Larry Ellison, who is an open Trump supporter — really believes the media is too liberal and needs to be nudged to the right.” “Maybe he’s just pleasing Trump and his allies [Federal Communications Commission] Chairman Brendan Carr, who had the real power to slow or stop its merger. Any explanation fits the facts.”
Meanwhile, The Free Press found that over the past two years, The Free Press has seen its audience grow significantly – while similar sites have experienced declines over the same period.
In addition to a 44 percent increase last month compared to September 2024, the Weiss-founded site was up 134 percent compared to the same month in 2023, its first full year of operation under its current name. (after leaving TimesWeiss – along with his wife Nellie Bowles and sister Suzy – launched the Substack blog Common Sense, which later changed to The Free Press.)
Comparing the Free Press’s growth in September, The Writing noted that only one other right-wing site it tracks surpassed the “radical centrist” Weiss’s outlet in year-over-year gains – Donald Trump’s Truth Social Platform, which was up 51 percent.
“While most news websites experienced a decline in visits in September compared to a year ago, when traffic increased domestically due to the presidential election, Free Press’s strong growth reflects strong consumer demand for the content available on the site,” Howard Polskin, president of The Writing, said in a statement. “Truth Social visitation also increased significantly in September, driven by the public’s thirst for news and opinion regarding the Charlie Kirk shooting in September.”
As far as mainstream news organizations are concerned, new York Times A growth of 4 percent was recorded compared to September 2024, while CNN declined by 11 percent Washington Post Faced a decline of 33 percent.
meanwhile, during first editorial call With CBS News staffers – who were already “Literally numb” On her ascension to the top of the network – Weiss said she was excited to let the newsroom learn about a free press and that she wanted to “win” before rallying.
‘Let’s make bullshit news,’ she said, prompting the staff to roll their eyes at the “cringey” callback to Aaron Sorkin’s polarizing series. newsroom,