Spirited Media, a digital-native local news pioneer, is selling its outlets after the company couldn’t raise the next round of investment it felt it needed to “get over the hump.” CEO and founder Jim Brady sees the development as offering a positive lesson for local TV stations. “Local television stations, in my opinion, are perfectly positioned to be the dominant players in their market.”
On the heels of the shuttering of DNAinfo and Gothamist, Spirited Media is working to build a profitable business model for local journalism. It’s latest move is to roll out a membership program as advertising sales struggle.
After combining with Denverite, the company behind Billy Penn and The Incline hopes to prove its events-heavy model can work in a dozen or more cities.
