Onwards and upwards!

Let's prove the naysayers wrong, and show a member-first media can exist, and even thrive

ESCAPEE

Over the holidays, Caley Fretz and I took stock of the cycling media landscape and thought long and hard about how we could (or should) build a cycling media business into something far better than we've ever seen before. Cycling deserves better than the media that currently serves it, and I believe that now is the time to act before it’s too late.

It gives me great pleasure and excitement to announce that we will build a membership-first cycling media publication which will launch in the very near future.

---

Many argue that cycling media is in a dire state. I’m not sure I totally agree with that sentiment, and I’m not sure repeating this same old conversation helps. Never before have we had such a diverse landscape of YouTubers, podcasters, live race coverage, and social media to see the best photos and video footage at any moment in time. It’s quite spectacular when you think about it.

However, it’s traditional cycling media that’s been absolutely obliterated and has evolved to, quite frankly, mostly shit. That is, media that is operated as a proper business with editorial standards and conduct. This form of media is difficult to monetise and now seems to exist for the sole purpose of flogging more product. It’s not the media’s fault things evolved this way. They’ve only responded to it in the only way possible. Incentives are misaligned (clicks and pageviews are the success metric) meanwhile the audience is often fed the lowest standard of content a title can get away with. With AI tools such as ChatGPT threatening to disrupt even Google, mediocre content that’s been built for search engines will die, and so will the remaining traditional media if they continue down this path. In the near future, mediocre content will be replaced by AI, and exceptional content and communities created by humans will be rewarded. (HT to Joe Lindsey for sending me this interesting article).

But why do we need ‘traditional media’ anyway? If YouTubers, influencers, and social media give us an assortment of satisfying content fed by an algorithm, what else do we need?

If you’re waiting for me to answer this rhetorical question, you’re probably not part of the audience we want to appeal to. Apologies if that sounds dismissive, but it’s a conversation for another day.

I’ve been told so many times that the membership media model will not work in cycling. I’ve been told there are not enough people interested in cycling. It’s too niche. It’s too saturated. The audience will never pay for something like this…

We’re out to prove these critics wrong. They underestimate the audience. We know this can work, and it can even thrive.

What our new cycling media business will be:

• This will be primarily member supported, with only a small number of selected commercial partners chosen in appropriate ways who add to our coverage and content, not detract from it.

• Our coverage will be fiercely INDEPENDENT. A member-first business model allows this, and it will be fascinating to see what new forms of content this results in without traditional constraints.

• We will not create content for the lowest common denominator. The audience we want to attract are smart and discerning. We will create content for this community, and have confidence that others will rise to this level.

• This will be employee owned and operated.

• This will be the best damn cycling media and community you’ve ever seen.

What this will NOT be:

• A platform for spruiking product placement, irrelevant promotions, advertorials, clickbait headlines and pedestrian takes. Media shouldn’t exist for the sole purpose of selling you more shit.

• We will not be something for everyone. We will be everything to someone.

• Mediocre content that’s created for SEO purposes. We will be creating content for our audience, not for Google search results.

If you want to see this happen and believe there’s value for the cycling community and industry with what we can create, here’s what you can do to help:

• Register your interest below. We want to bring you along on this journey every step of the way. We are starting from a blank piece of paper and this will be the only way we can reliably communicate directly with you.

• We want to find the best of the best. If you’re interested in a career in cycling journalism, please look through our job postings here.

• We are seeking seed investment. We won’t take just any money though. We want to partner with investors who bring expertise, a network, experience to the table and who won’t present conflicts in the sport we are covering. Please get in touch (wadewallace@gmail.com) if you want to be part of an innovative media brand who will fill an important gap in the cycling space.

• Please share this with your friends and colleagues who will also want to see this happen.

Thanks for listening and we’re excited to share our new journey with you.

Wade Wallace and Caley Fretz

P.S. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to ‘The Placeholder' Podcast where you’ll hear familiar voices talking about what’s happening in cycling. We’ll talk about the announcement in this newsletter more in the next episode.

You can listen to it here on Apple and Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.