‘100 is the Minimum’—Axios Local Expands to 11 New Cities

Axios Local is going bicoastal. The city-based network of free, local newsletters announced Thursday morning that it is expanding to 11 new locations, bringing its total number of cities to 25, proving that a lean, centralized model to local news is viable. The program, which began last December when Axios acquired the Charlotte Agenda, is on pace to net $5 million in revenue by the end of 2021, according to chief financial officer Fabricio Drummond. It plans to expand to another 25 cities and net $10 million in revenue by the end of 2022, Drummond said. Axios Local, not yet one-year-old, has spread rapidly across the country: The 50-person team now has more than 500,000 subscribers and an open rate of between 30% and 55%, according to Ted Williams, gm of Axios Local. “We've mapped out 100 markets in cities where we think this product can have a meaningful impact for local readers,” Drummond told Adweek. “But 100 is the minimum. We also want to have alternative paths that enable us to expand into even smaller communities.” Axios Local Is on Pace to Generate Up to $5 Million This Year By staffing a skeleton crew of two reporters per city and centralizing operations and business functions, the program has expanded as legacy news operations continue to shrink. Axios Local plans to continue its proliferation and aims to establish outposts in at least 100 cities, according to Drummond. The early success of Axios Local has come as many traditional news outlets, beset by mismanagement and a competitive ad market, have shuttered or been acquired by private equity firms intent on wringing the businesses for short-term profit. The Axios Local model of a lean approach, monetized primarily by advertising and supported by a centralized hub, could prove profitable enough to spark a revival of digitally-oriented local news. The West Coast and regional clusters The new locations and cities will be live by the third quarter of next year. New locations include San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Raleigh, Miami, Phoenix, Houston, Richmond, Detroit, Baltimore and Salt Lake City. With this cohort of new Axios Local locations, the program will have its first outposts on the West Coast, in San Francisco and Seattle. The roll-out also begins to create small geographic clusters in Texas––where Axios Local will be in Dallas, Austin and Houston––and around its flagship city Charlotte, which will now be complemented by the Raleigh and Richmond locations. I'm a big believer that great media companies solve problems for people,Ted Williams, gm of Axios Local The combination of its widening net of coverage and its regional pockets affords Axios Local new opportunities in terms of both reporting and business ventures, Williams said. With hundreds of journalists positioned in key cities across the country, Axios could use them to improve its national product or potentially produce more television programs. Over time, coverage of cities could turn into coverage of states, Drummond added. Job boards and city guides Axios Local generates revenue almost exclusively through national and local advertising, with a small segment of performance marketing. The majority of brand partners are national at the moment, Williams said. The publisher wouldn't share specific breakdowns. However, as the network grows, Axios Local plans to build out new sources of revenue, including job boards, city guides, membership programs and events. Every city will eventually have a job board, which will feature select jobs in the daily newsletter but will live, in full, on the website, Drummond said. The Axios Local job boards hope to differentiate themselves from competitors like Indeed by providing access to Axios’ professional readership on a daily basis. Axios Local is experimenting with city guides, but it will lean more heavily into the effort in 2022, says Drummond. The guides will be delivered initially in an email but will live on their respective websites, organized around themes, such as real estate or outdoor activities. Membership feedback loop Axios Local rolled out its membership programs in October in Charlotte, Des Moines, Twin Cities, Tampa Bay and Denver. For a suggested donation of between $50 and $500 a year, members get access to perks, such as exclusive newsletters and members-only events. The revenue generated from local members goes back into expanding its respective local outpost, a feedback loop that helped the Charlotte Agenda (now Axios Charlotte) expand its newsroom to seven and generate $100,000 in revenue. “I'm a big believer that great media companies solve problems for people,” Williams said. “I think local news is not quite as entertaining as national news, so it has to be even more utility-driven. And newsletters are a great format for that.” The Oaklandside Is Creating a Blueprint for Nonprofit Local News

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‘100 is the Minimum’—Axios Local Expands to 11 New Cities

The newsletter product will generate $5 million in revenue

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