‘Sometimes the market doesn’t even really know that we’re independent’: Broadsheet’s Nick Shelton
13 years since launching, Broadsheet is continuing to make strides forward without relying on external investment. Mumbrella's Kalila Welch sat down with Broadsheet's founder and publisher, Nick Shelton, to find out why the independent publisher has no plans to take on investors any time soon.
Nick Shelton has been at the helm of online city guide and cultural publication, Broadsheet, since founding the publication in 2009.
While many in his position would have by now sought external investment, or looked to step away from the day-to-day operations of publishing, Shelton remains committed to the independent path.
Shelton founded Broadsheet 13 years ago
Why independence is at the centre of Broadsheet’s success
As the sole owner of the publication, Shelton is keen to point out Broadsheet has become one of few remaining independent media businesses in the country.
“The fact we’ve been able to build a business over 13 years that’s profitable, growing and doing new things, innovating- it’s at the top of its field. We’re really proud of that.”
Beyond pride, Broadsheet’s achievements have also been recognised by the industry, having recently taken home Publishing Company of the Year and Publish Leader of the Year at Mumbrella’s 2022 Publish Awards, voted for by an independent jury of industry peers.
“I think sometimes the market doesn’t even really know that we’re independent. But competing with publications like Nine or News Corp, it’s really hard, and we do really, really well,” Shelton adds.
Despite the challenge, he has no plans to list the business, and has loved the freedom and possibility for innovation that comes with not being tied to the interests of a corporate entity.
Unbeholden to investors, Broadsheet has been able to remain agile through the changes of the past few years, adapting its content when the hospitality industry was quashed by COVID-19-related regulations.
“We’ve been very responsive to the market conditions,” says Shelton.
“Being independent naturally changes the way the business works,” he stresses. “I think some businesses make sense within a larger corporate structure, but we’ve seen so much success in the way we’ve been approaching things and we’re really happy to keep doing that.”
Broadsheet launched its free real-time app in April this year
Building new revenue streams
Commercially, it’s clear Broadsheet’s independent model is working, with Shelton putting Broadsheet’s growth for 2022 at 30-40%.
The strong trajectory can be largely attributed to a number of new product offerings launched by the publication over the past 12 months, including a new membership platform which Shelton says “doesn’t exist anywhere else”.
Broadsheet’s ‘Access’ membership was launched last December and has become a solid revenue stream for the publication, offering members exclusive deals, reserved tables, venue previews and freebies in exchange for a monthly subscription of $15, or $9.75 a month for those who pay annually.
Access is also an opportunity for Broadsheet to extend its relationship with its media partners, allowing partners to connect with the membership audience through exclusive offers.
Despite a steep 30% increase in the subscription paid by members, after the program launch at a cost of $10 per month, it would seem that users are willing to pay.
While Shelton will not disclose subscription numbers, he says the program is “going really well”, adding that the team has so far been “delighted” with the results.
“We’re making that up as we go along,” explains Shelton. “We’re trying things and some of them work and some of them don’t. But we’re really excited about where Access is going. I think over the next few years it’s going to become a really, really meaningful part of our business.”
Alongside Access, the past 12 months have also seen Broadsheet launch its first international vertical in New Zealand, rollout an app, debut a home and lifestyle vertical, and partner with oOh! Media to deliver its content to to their current CBD locations across oOh!’s Office network.
Last month, it was also announced that Broadsheet had expanded its relationship with fellow independent publisher Guardian Australia, with the Guardian’s sales teams now representing Broadsheet’s advertising assets in the Queensland and Western Australia markets.
However, what is perhaps most interesting is Broadsheet’s ongoing focus on expanding its branded content capabilities. In fact, branded content is one of the key verticals on which Broadsheet positions itself in the market.
Though publication with similar topic matter, like Concrete Playground and Time Out, may be obvious competitors for Broadsheet, it is some of the bigger mastheads that Broadsheet really sets itself against.
“In terms of our revenue and commercials, we’re thinking about who else does branded content really well? Because that’s what we think we do better than anyone. That’s what we focus on,” he explains. “So it’s publishers like The Guardian and Pedestrian Group”.
Shelton tells Mumbrella that Broadsheet’s content studio works much like any other marketing service – a brief comes in, and the team work with brands, and sometimes their agencies, to create a bespoke solution depending on outlined objectives.
While these solutions often come in the form of content pieces, there are also a growing number of deeper opportunities to engage Broadsheet’s audience through events, product collaborations, podcasts, prints issues and more.
“So many brands want to be connected to culture. They want to be connected to how people think,” says Shelton, pointing to brands that want to be on the pulse of the Zeitgeist as being Broadsheet’s core opportunity.
One such opportunity that Broadsheet recently executed on a fairly large scale, was the special print edition launched in collaboration with Tourism Tasmania. The work extended on the ‘off season’ campaign, created for the tourism body by BMF.
The special edition print paper was rolled out in June this year in collaboration with media agency Starcom. Editions were available for free in selected cafes, restaurants, bars, shops, Virgin airport lounges and hotels across Melbourne and Sydney.
Devoted entirely to Tasmania, the campaign was created to inspire Broadsheet’s mainland audience to take a trip down to the south island during the Australian winter.
The News Media Bargaining Code
With Broadsheet’s independence so important to Shelton, it comes as no surprise that he has been a prominent voice in the ongoing saga of the ACCC’s News Media Bargaining Code.
“A piece of legislation and a policy, which was very high minded and had really good intentions, has created imbalance within the media ecosystem, which is a very unfortunate unintended consequence,” Shelton of the Code at a #WaitingForZuck panel at Mumbrella’s Publish conference earlier this year.
Shelton tells Mumbrella that he still sees the Code as an “alive and evolving mission”, particularly over the next two to three years a major publishers look to have their deals renewed with Google and Facebook.
He points to TikTok, YouTube and Instagram as the next to be looked at, and potentially included in the code.
“We have a new government now that are that are still in the process of getting their head around it and forming their own position,” he says. ‘It’s very interesting to see that the Treasury review has said the Code is a success – and I agree it has been a success. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s not a full success, and it’s not complete until everyone who’s eligible gets their fair value.”
“What we’re going to start seeing, I fear, is the publishers who did miss out, who should have been included, are going to start really suffering in their business,” Shelton adds. “For a business, like Broadsheet, that doesn’t have access to that…you know, we’re really under pressure when it comes to our cost base. Especially when it comes to the cost of experienced journalism, talent which has become very very inflated as a result of the code.”
Despite the “$200 million” advantage that Broadsheet has missed out on, Shelton’s outlook on the future of Broadsheet is optimistic.
While he is remaining vigilant about the possibility of difficult economic conditions in the short term, Shelton says Broadsheet is yet to feel any impacts of an economic slowdown.
“Everyone you speak to is still doing pretty well. They don’t see it yet and that’s reflected in our traffic and our advertising. It’s still going really strong. So who knows what next year holds. But so far, so good.”
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