One-Year In, Rob Wheeler’s ATM Hits $1 Million in Revenue

When Rob Wheeler launched At The Moment last May, the former GroupM chief marketing officer pitched the bootstrapped video venture as something between journalism and corporate storytelling.

The B2B outlet, whose name also reflects its coverage of the advertising, technology, and media worlds, planned to cover each of the industries without quite belonging to any of them.

A year in, the bet is paying off. ATM brought in more than $1 million in revenue between May 2025 and May 2026, entirely from sponsorships, and is already profitable, according to Wheeler. The company is reinvesting earnings into editorial tools, a global bench of editors, and a planned awards show slated for the end of the year.

“I feel fortunate that I was so ignorant going into this,” Wheeler said. “I thought there was whitespace—not quite journalism, not quite corporate storytelling, but something in between. It turns out there is a real appetite for it.”

The team remains lean. Christine Roeder, the former AT&T colleague who joined at launch, now functions as managing editor. ATM also works with 11 full-time editors across global time zones, supported by an AI tool that helps sort footage for fast turnaround.

The venture is the latest in a growing series of media startups that aim to parlay the expertise and relationships of their founders into lightweight, sustainable operations. 

Similar to Beet TV or Marketecture, ATM does not aim to break stories or push for accountability; instead, it offers a thought leadership platform for industry experts to share their perspectives and analyses. In giving their founders an independent forum for broadcasting content, these outlets mirror the broader trend of solo entrepreneurship that is reshaping the news media landscape.

A pivot toward events

The biggest surprise, according to Wheeler, has been the appetite for event coverage. 

ATM’s red-carpet work at the Disney upfront, along with man-on-the-street interviews asking attendees why they came, drew traction Wheeler had not anticipated. The outlet has since followed media buyers across the upfront circuit, capturing reactions in near-real time.

“That was not on my bingo card, but it’s been a huge hit,” he said.

Of ATM’s original four video franchises, two concepts, Moment Makers and Moments That Matter have proven the most durable. The first features a series of direct-to-camera interviews in the Masterclass mold, while the latter showcases sizzle reels from events like Possible. A fourth format, Roundtables, has run less frequently, hampered by logistics.

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A newer format, Merging Moments, pairs holding companies with their own clients in on-camera conversations spanning business strategy and lighter fare like travel hacks. The format, sponsored by the holding companies themselves, gives viewers a window into agency-client dynamics, though it also reflects ATM’s positioning at the seam between editorial and brand-funded content.

ATM’s audience now skews heavily toward the buy side, with brands and agencies accounting for roughly 60% of viewership, followed by media publishers at 25%, and adtech and data firms after that. 

The company says its Friday newsletter, Your ATM Withdrawal, reaches more than 17,000 readers, including over 300 CMOs and C-suite executives across major holding companies. ATM has logged more than seven million views across social and on-site, and recently sat down with NFL chief marketing officer Tim Ellis.

Sponsors over the first year have included Disney, NBCUniversal, WPP, DirecTV, Magnite, and T-Mobile Advertising. Most deals are structured as 12-month, six-figure commitments with an “always on” consultative model that the company plans to keep, according to Wheeler. ATM is also exploring a content-studio arm to produce branded materials exclusively for outside companies.

The centerpiece of ATM’s second year will be The Moment Awards, a year-end event that will resemble a cocktail party with crowd-sourced categories. Beginning in late summer, ATM will solicit nominations for the top moments in advertising, technology, and media, and will recognize an executive, marketer, and influencer of the year.

The event will be open to sponsorship, with current partners getting first look and additional sponsors invited to back individual award categories.

“I just want to be part of the conversation and create moments,” Wheeler said. “I’ll be happy when people are coming to us asking to get involved.”