The Daily Wire says it's pouring $100 million into kids entertainment
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The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro. Photo: Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon
The Daily Wire is planning a significant push into kids entertainment, with what it says will be "a minimum of $100 million" investment over the next three years.
Why it matters: The move, executives say, is in response to Disney's positioning on Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Disney has begun to speak out about the bill in response to backlash that it didn't proactively denounce it initially.
- “Americans are tired of giving their money to woke corporations who hate them,” said Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing in a statement.
Catch up quick: The Daily Wire started as a conservative media outlet that used Facebook to acquire lots of traffic. It's best known for its popular podcast "The Ben Shapiro Show."
- In recent months, it's pushed into entertainment as a way to attract paid subscribers. It aims to distinguish itself from other conservative media companies by focusing on conservative culture and conversation, in addition to news and analysis.
- Earlier this year, the Daily Wire told Axios its 12-month revenue hit $100 million for the first time in January 2022, up from roughly $65 million for the full year in 2020.
Details: The investment will go into building a line of live-action and animated children’s entertainment on its streaming platform, according to a press release.
- The company says the content will be available to Daily Wire subscribers starting in the spring of 2023.
- Children’s content has been in the works "for months," the company says. Boreing, who also oversees the development of the Daily Wire's entertainment content, has brought on Eric Branscum and Ethan Nicolle of “VeggieTales in the House” and the Babylon Bee to head up kids content development, the statement notes.
The big picture: The Daily Wire has pushed to respond commercially to political and cultural issues that resonate with its audience.
- Earlier this month, it launched its own razor brand to compete with Harry’s razors after the Daily Wire says Harry’s pulled its ads from the Daily Wire, citing its viewpoints.
- To date, the Daily Wire says it's sold over 45,000 razor subscriptions in seven days.
Yes, but: Part of the Daily Wire's appeal is denouncing efforts its audiences see as overly progressive, even when other major corporations don't agree.
- Dozens of businesses, including Starbucks, Nordstrom and Pinterest, have condemned the "Don't Say Gay" bill. LGTBQ+ advocates argue the law could impact the mental health of youth.
