Recurrent Ventures’ Refurbished Outdoor Titles See 70% Audience Growth

Two legacy titles that the venture equity firm Recurrent Ventures purchased from Bonnier Corp. in October 2020, Field & Stream and Outdoor Life, have seen audience, revenue and staff growth since their acquisition, making a positive case for private equity-backed media. Year over year traffic rose 70% to Field & Stream and 65% to Outdoor Life in 2021, according to editors in chief Colin Kearns and Alex Robinson. Field & Stream reached a new all-time traffic high in October when 5.2 million readers visited the website, and Outdoor Life achieved the same in November with 4.1 million readers, Kearns and Robinson told Adweek. Direct ad sales revenue for the two titles rose a combined 45%, while affiliate commerce revenue in Q4 2021 was up 65% year over year, according to Matt Young, the chief revenue officer at Recurrent Ventures. Overall revenue to the two titles has tripled year over year, though Recurrent Ventures declined to share specific financial or audience figures. Eight new staff have joined the two publications—a modest tally compared to larger operations—but the hires are the first editorial recruits Kearns has made in his five years in the position. Field & Stream and Outdoor Life have a total of 17 editorial employees, as well as a number of pooled business and operations staff that work on both, according to the publisher. The two titles are part of Recurrent Ventures’ Science, Tech and Outdoor portfolio, which also includes the publications Popular Science and Futurism. The cohort aims to reach profitability by the end of 2022 and its revenue breaks down by source nearly into thirds: advertising; commerce; and newer ventures such as video, subscriptions, merchandise, licensing and events. Despite the strong start, Recurrent Ventures faces an uphill battle in its attempt to transform threadbare outfits into sustainable media companies, said Eunice Shin, a partner at the digital media consultancy firm Prophet. Its competitors have a years-long head-start and the economics of the internet often advantage incumbents with large, lucrative readerships over new entrants grappling for a toe-hold. “You have to consider where these companies are starting from, because some of them are really far behind,” Shin said. “So the fact that they're able to get lift, that's great. But it's also very indicative of how they needed these types of investments for them to become even viable in the market.” What to Know About Mel Magazine’s New Owners, Recurrent Ventures Reviews to boost revenue and newsletters to build habit When Recurrent Ventures acquired Field & Stream and Outdoor Life, the company brought data analytics into the editorial process for the first time in the publications’ combined 251-year history. Both titles immediately increased their publishing cadence, putting more emphasis on producing daily content to increase traffic and gear reviews to boost revenue. Recurrent Ventures also instituted other practices that are common amongst modern publishers, such as connecting the editorial and affiliate teams to coordinate their reviews coverage. Affiliate commerce has grown into a substantial line of revenue for the publishers, led by a targeted strategy of optimizing articles around keywords and adding expert contributors to their reviews process. While the increased editorial output captures more search traffic, the two publishers hope to use newsletters to convert fly-by readers into regular visitors. Currently, Field & Stream has two newsletters and Outdoor Life has one, but they plan to introduce two and three new products by the end of the year, Kearns said. The newsletters will be niche, focusing on topics like gear and fishing, but that narrow focus has led to high engagement. The newsletter Whitetail 365, which Field & Stream launched in October, has a 54% open rate and 8% click-through rate, according to Kearns. He declined to share the size of its readership. A focus on commerce—and paywall plans are distant The venture equity firm hopes to build out other product-based revenue lines, such as merchandising and licensing, to take advantage of the titles’ strong brand recognition and reduce its reliance on advertising. Outdoor Life, in particular, is focused on leveraging its reputation in the outdoor and hunting world to secure a number of product licensing agreements in the coming year, Young told Adweek. The two titles also sell merchandise, such as vintage magazine covers and apparel. Recurrent Ventures Chases Younger Video-Hungry Car Enthusiasts With Donut Media Acquisition Neither of the titles currently have a paywall, but when Recurrent Ventures discontinued their print publications in 2020, it converted readers’ physical subscriptions to subscriptions to their digital magazines, which publish quarterly. Digital magazine subscribers can access supplementary content on the website by linking their physical subscription to their digital profile, as well as read the magazines on Apple News+. These digital magazine subscriptions make up 25% of revenue across the Outdoor titles, according to Adam Morath, gm of the science, tech and outdoor vertical. Any plans to introduce a paywall to the titles are at least a year away, Morath said. “Everything is on the table in terms of how we can serve our subscribers and members,” Morath said. “We can do so many more things than were possible in the print era, so we're looking at all those options.”