BDG Media, the parent company to fashion and lifestyle publications such as Bustle, Nylon and Scary Mommy, expects to be profitable this year and earn up to $130 million in revenue, its CEO and founder Bryan Goldberg tells Axios.

• Last year it earned around $110 million in revenue, he said.

Why it matters: A few years ago, Goldberg was focused on scaling his portfolio to take the company public or sell it. Now, he's leaning into BDG's niche brands to grow memberships around social influencers.

Zoom in: Core to BDG Media's strategy has been investing in new revenue streams — notably memberships and events — while also cutting back significantly on costs.

• Roughly 240 people work at the company today. At its peak, it employed 400.
• "We may sell the business in the coming years, but not until we have proven that we can drive significant growth and cash flow. We'll get more for the business when we're highly profitable, and we're along the way," he says.

State of play: BDG makes the majority of its revenue on direct advertising sales. Goldberg hopes memberships will drive more momentum to that business.

• 🪩 BDG launched its first major membership pegged to its fashion and lifestyle brand Nylon this year, throwing big parties at marquee events such Art Basel, Coachella and New York Fashion Week.
• 📊 The first-party data the company collects from influencers, including their addresses, is a real, valuable asset, Goldberg says. "The data is a function of the trust we have with the influencers."

How it works: Unlike most media companies, members don't pay.

• The company has selected members from a pool of over 12,000 applicants to be a part of an elite club of social influencers that it can then use to upsell brands.
• BDG has so far accepted 1,100 Nylon members to date and expects to add another 1,500–2,000 or so by next year.
• It makes money selling sponsorships to brands at its major events, with the promise of reaching top influencers.

🎁 What's next: The company is now hoping to make money from a nascent gifting program it launched last month where brands can send Nylon members merchandise for free, with the hope of exposure.

The big picture: BDG Media is one of the few independent media rollup companies that still exists today, but it's smaller than it was a few years ago when it explored a possible SPAC IPO.

• Women's fashion and beauty brands have had a particularly difficult time remaining independent in an era where lifestyle content has migrated largely to TikTok.
• Jezebel, Refinery29, TheSkimm and others have all been sold for a fraction of their value at their peak in recent years.

What to watch: Goldberg hopes to eventually scale BDG's membership model to all of BDG's major brands. Scary Mommy, a parenting website it acquired in 2021, is a logical next fit, he says.

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Fox News, the former employer of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, today joined a chorus of news outlets refusing to sign an agreement with the Pentagon that could limit journalists' rights to gather or report information not officially authorized for release.

Why it matters: It's a huge rebuke of the Pentagon's efforts to silence the press.

• In addition to Fox News, conservative-leaning outlets Newsmax and the Washington Times have also indicated they won't sign the pledge.
• News outlets have until 5pm ET to sign and acknowledge the new press rules or risk having their press passes revoked, the Pentagon said.

Zoom in: "Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon's new requirements, which would restrict journalists' ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues," Fox News said in a joint statement today alongside ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News.

• "The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press."

📣 Nearly every major national news outlet — NPR, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Associated Press, Axios, Politico, The Guardian, CNN, and many others — have all said their journalists will not sign the pledge.

Flashback: It's not the first time conservative outlets have supported their broader media peers in a fight for press freedoms.

• Newsmax and Fox News signed a February letter to the White House, urging it to rescind a ban against AP reporters.

💭 Our thought bubble: While helpful, journalists don't need access to the Pentagon's facilities to do their jobs.

• Trying to bully them with a vague pledge will only empower them to find new ways to cover the $1 trillion taxpayer-funded defense industry.

Reality check: Even President Trump, who has moved aggressively to target the press, has acknowledged that.

• "Nothing stops reporters," President Trump said a few weeks ago when asked about the Pentagon's efforts.

📺 What to watch: So far, only one outlet, the conservative cable network One America News (OAN), indicated that it planned to sign the pledge.

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The New York Sun, which relaunched under its new owner and publisher Dovid Efune in 2022, is reviving the storied paper's print edition for the first time since 2008.

🗞️ Why it matters: Print has seen a resurgence in magazines in recent years, but newspapers have rarely revived print editions in an era of declining circulation.

• Efune said there's audience and advertiser demand for it.

The big picture: "We're not of the view that news consumption is reverting backwards," he tells Axios.

• "But we recognize that given the digital deluge, there's growing demand to experience the consumption of newspapers differently in carve-outs in the lives of readers," Efune says.
• "It's not likely an everyday thing, but on weekends and in other more serene parts of our lives, sitting down on the porch or in a cafe, having a drink or a coffee while reading the paper is an experience that we're seeing heightened interest in and appreciation for."
• Advertisers that will be part of the print relaunch's debut edition include mostly local businesses such as Carnegie Hall and a New York City real estate company called Nest Seekers.

Zoom in: The new print edition will publish weekly on Fridays, per Efune.

• It will be available for purchase on newsstands across New York City to start. It will also be accessible as part of a broader print and digital subscription bundle for $480 annually.
• The broadsheet newspaper will appear in a Berliner format, which is slightly smaller than a traditional paper but larger than a tabloid.
• It will include two main sections: one for news and opinion and the other for arts and culture.

⏪ Zoom out: Efune purchased the paper in 2021 from Seth Lipsky, the current editor-in-chief who relaunched the paper in 2002. Lipsky also served as editor until 2008 until he shuttered the paper, citing financial constraints.

• Over the past few years, Efune has revived the paper's digital presence, and he says the outlet is now profitable.
• The Sun today has nearly 2 million free email subscribers and "tens of thousands" of paid subscribers, Efune says.

What to watch: Efune says the Sun's voice embodies "American values and principles," which feature the constitutional principles of free markets and individual liberties.

• The Sun does run political endorsements, but it has not yet endorsed a mayoral candidate.
• The first three print editions will feature in-depth investigations into New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

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Warner Bros. Discovery has rejected Paramount Skydance's initial takeover bid of $20 per share, per Bloomberg.

• The company, which comes saddled with around $35 billion in debt, is currently trading at around $17 per share, giving it a market cap of nearly $44 billion.

Why it matters: WBD has said that it plans to split into two publicly traded companies — one that would house its cable channels and the other its streaming and studio assets.

• For CEO David Zaslav, the split would allow him to focus on building a legacy in Hollywood as president and CEO of the streaming and studio business to be named Warner Bros.
• Paramount would need to put together a compelling takeover offer for the combined entity before the planned split in mid-2026.

📈 Reality check: There's been a huge premium placed on both Paramount Skydance and WBD shares in the wake of reports about Paramount's interest.

• WBD was trading around $12 a share before deal talks were reported in September, while Paramount was trading at roughly $15 a share.
• Before the Skydance merger, Paramount shares were trading, on average, around $11.46 between Oct. 14, 2024, and the deal close on Aug. 7, 2025.

💰What to watch: Paramount Skydance is roughly half the size of WBD in terms of market value, but its bid would be bolstered by the coffers of Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount Skydance chair and CEO David Ellison.

• Apollo Global Management, which has invested in Hollywood studio Legendary through its equity arm, has also told Paramount it would be willing to provide debt financing for a potential offer, per the Wall Street Journal.

Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect Apollo has invested in Legendary (not Lionsgate).

The Los Angeles Times aims to raise up to $500 million by selling private shares to accredited investors ahead of its plans to go public by 2027, according to a public investor presentation.

Why it matters: The paper would need to convince investors that its future plans are compelling and lucrative in order to survive a challenging public market for media companies.

• The company reported a net loss before income taxes of $48 million for fiscal year 2024 on revenue of more than $237 million, according to the offering documents.

Zoom in: The new entity, Los Angeles Times Media Group, includes the almost 144-year-old newspaper, its production studio division LA Times Studios, and billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong's other ventures — production company NantStudios and gaming and esports company NantGames.

• 💵 The offering seeks up to $500 million in Series A preferred stock, priced at $5,000 a share with a 7% annual dividend and a 25% conversion discount to common stock. The minimum investment is one share.
• 🏛️ The company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 2027 under the ticker LAT.

Between the lines: The Times hired Digital Offering LLC, the investment firm that took Newsmax public, to help with the planned IPO, according to the offering documents.

• Soon-Shiong also brought on Eric Beach, a Republican strategist who ran Great America PAC for President Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns, according to Semafor, which called him a "MAGA whisperer," to recruit new voices for the editorial board.

Catch up quick: Soon-Shiong bought the LA Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2018 for $500 million but sold the latter to MediaNews Group in 2023.

• The newsroom has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs, cutting more than 20% in 2024. Soon-Shiong also has faced backlash from his staff, notably for blocking the paper's planned presidential endorsement for Kamala Harris.
• Soon-Shiong told Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" in July he intended to take the storied paper public "to allow it to be democratized and allow the public to be the ownership of this paper."

Reality check: The LA Times is betting investors will buy into a hybrid media business that combines legacy journalism with digital entertainment and gaming.

• But other recent media IPOs, like BuzzFeed, have struggled.

What to watch: LA Times journalists voted last week to authorize a strike after more than three years of contract negotiations.

The two biggest subscription streaming companies globally are teaming up, with Spotify bringing select video podcasts to Netflix starting in early 2026.

Why it matters: The deal gives Spotify more distribution and revenue as podcast advertising is not growing nearly as fast as video.

🎧 Driving the news: The partnership will launch with a curated selection of podcasts spanning sports, culture, lifestyle and true crime from Spotify Studios and The Ringer, including "The Bill Simmons Podcast," "The Rewatchables" and "Conspiracy Theories."

• The podcasts will be available on Netflix in the U.S. with more markets to come. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The big picture: Video podcasts have become an increasingly popular format, growing audiences and providing bigger revenue opportunities compared to traditional audio.

• Adding podcasts follows Netflix's bet on unscripted entertainment alongside its push into stand-up comedy, sports programming and live events.

⏯️ Reality check: Netflix enters a crowded arena. YouTube has been the category leader with 33% of U.S. weekly podcast listeners using the service, per Edison Research.

• Amazon has ramped up video support, recently adding Jason and Travis Kelce's "New Heights" podcast to Prime Video in the U.S.
• SiriusXM has signed podcasts with popular video versions like Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy."

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