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The city-based podcast and newsletter media company City Cast is on pace to generate $3 million in revenue and expand into its twelfth and thirteenth markets this year, according to founder David Plotz.
The company is not profitable, and the revenues are relatively small for an 80-person outlet. But the figures also reflect substantial growth in a short timeframe: Following a March 2021 launch, the company began monetizing in 2022, generating $100,000. Last year, it brought in $700,000.
City Cast plans to reach profitability by 2027, Plotz said. It owes its generous run rate to the deep pockets of its ownership group, Graham Holdings, which used to own The Washington Post and now owns the publisher Slate.
“First, we built the content ecosystem, and now we are building out the monetization ecosystem,” Plotz said. “We feel good. We are making daily podcasts and newsletters that do for their cities what we had hoped they would.”
Its expansion efforts come amid a broader recalibration in the podcasting ecosystem, which has been prompted by the economic downturn of the last two years. The company has been relatively insulated from these headwinds thanks to its nascency, patient backing and focus on local advertising, according to Bryan Barletta, the founder of the podcasting trade publication Sounds Profitable.
The publisher is also one of several innovative attempts—along with Axios Local—hoping to capitalize on the decline in local news and radio. By creating a sustainable, nationwide network of news outlets, City Cast hopes to bring its model to upward of 50 cities when fully realized.
Early traction and expansion
Through its daily podcast and attendant newsletter, City Cast offers a curated collection of daily news and cultural happenings in the 11 cities it serves. The podcast focuses on a single topic, while the newsletter offers a broader mix of original and aggregated reporting.
In a recent edition of City Cast Portland, for example, the podcast explored the anti-crime strategy of district attorney candidate Nathan Vasquez, while the newsletter offered a section touching on the same issue, as well as a collection of things to do, unofficial slogans for the city and a round-up of trending news stories.
So far, City Cast has expanded into metropolitan hubs including Chicago, Portland, Madison and Washington, D.C. This June, it will launch operations in Austin and Nashville.