The Ankler moves to new publishing platform created by Ben Thompson
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Ankler's Janice Min and Richard Rushfield. Photo: Austin Hargrave
The Ankler, an entertainment media startup led by veteran Hollywood editor Janice Min and insider columnist Richard Rushfield, is moving its publishing operations from Substack to a new subscription management platform called Passport that was created by Ben Thompson, an influential independent tech journalist.
Why it matters: While Substack does offer enterprise solutions for bigger publishers, it's used primarily by independent creators with less complex subscription offerings.
- As The Ankler's subscription business matures, it wants to find more ways to customize its subscription offerings and marketing efforts, Min told Axios in an interview alongside Rushfield.
Zoom in: The new Passport platform is being built in partnership with Automattic, the creator of the popular publishing platform WordPress.
- It has yet to be rolled out publicly. The Ankler is its first major publishing partner besides Stratechery, the popular subscription newsletter written by Thompson since 2013.
- Passport will give The Ankler more flexibility to bundle offerings and to market certain subscriptions and other products, such as podcasts and events, to more niche audiences.
- "We will have much more ownership of our audience now, the data, who they are, which allows us to personalize more," Min said.
- Moving forward, The Ankler will publish its content on an owned-and-operated site, supported by Passport's subscription infrastructure. Its coverage focus, products and editorial voice will not change, per Min.
What they're saying: "What Janice and Richard have achieved with The Ankler is terrific, and no surprise to anyone who knows their track records," Thompson said.
- "I built Passport to serve the kind of needs I had at Stratechery — scaling a subscription business while maintaining control over the product, the data and the audience relationship. When Janice outlined her plans for The Ankler's next phase of growth, it was immediately clear Passport was built for exactly that. The partnership came together very naturally."
State of play: The Ankler's success is a testament to how well Substack serves independent creators and smaller startups looking to tap into a broader network of readers.
- The outlet will maintain a presence on Substack, including a weekly newsletter and live video product from Rushfield.
- Rushfield, who was one of the earliest independent creators in Hollywood to start publishing on the platform, said the independent film community on Substack is very vibrant and it's important to stay involved.
Yes, but: "The network effects aren't quite as strong for us as they are for individual creators," Min said.
The big picture: The Ankler is one of several news organizations, including The Bulwark and The Dispatch, that started out on Substack but have since migrated to broader platforms to scale.
- If the first wave of the newsletter culture wars over the past few years was about writers becoming independent, "the next is about building durable businesses," Min said.
Zoom out: Launched in 2022 as a single newsletter product, The Ankler has expanded to become a multiplatform media company with 15 newsletters, podcasts, video products and a live events business.
- It has positioned itself as an independent voice in Hollywood as more trade outlets continue to consolidate.
- The company has been profitable since it launched out of Y Combinator with a $1.3 million seed round. It has not raised additional capital since and doesn't have immediate plans to, per Min.
- According to Substack, the company has "tens of thousands" of paid subscribers.
