The new audience development playbook

Welcome to a new edition of The Rebooting. Today:

• We are releasing The Rebooting’s latest research report. We partnered with Omeda to examine the new audience development playbook.
• Speaking of new playbooks, the media training playbook is in desperate need of updating. This is a member’s piece. Upgrade to TRB Pro for full access to all of The Rebooting’s content.

The new audience development playbook

For years, audience development meant chasing traffic and pageviews. The media landscape has obviously changed. Niche is in. Direct connections are in. Audience-centricity is in. 

The Rebooting’s latest research, conducted in partnership with Omeda and in collaboration with Debra Aho Williamson, surveyed 97 publishing executives to understand what's working in audience development today. The results point to a clear trend: publishers are focusing less on third-party platforms and more on direct, owned relationships. At the same time, many are in the position of continuing to operate their old businesses while they build the next business. 

A few key insights:

• Search traffic is down. Half of publishers reported a decline in search traffic over the past year. Social media referrals continue to shrink. The old traffic playbook isn't working like it used to.
• Newsletters and direct traffic are on the rise. Over 60% of publishers cite newsletters as a key audience driver. Direct traffic—visitors who type in a URL or use bookmarks—is also growing. The goal: build habits and loyalty outside of algorithmic dependence.
• First-party data is critical. Collecting audience data isn't enough; publishers need to activate it. Community-building, memberships, and exclusive experiences are becoming core strategies.
• AI is both a disruptor and an opportunity. 53% of publishers worry about traffic loss from AI-generated content, but nearly a third are already seeing audience growth from AI-driven discovery.
• Monetization is shifting. Advertising remains dominant, but publishers are leaning into subscriptions and events. Smaller publishers, in particular, see community-building as a key revenue driver.

The full report dives deeper into these trends, including how publishers are adapting their audience strategies for 2025. 

The end of media training

• Authenticity wins in the age of long-form media – Traditional media training, built for soundbites and scripted PR, is becoming a liability. Long-form podcasts and independent media demand authenticity, adaptability, and real-time thinking.
• The "go-direct" shift is reshaping communication – Business leaders, politicians, and media personalities can no longer rely on polished talking points. The ability to think out loud, engage in real conversations, and navigate unscripted moments is now a critical skill.
• Corporate communication is stuck in an expired playbook – From overly rehearsed media executives to panels filled with canned answers, old-school PR habits are failing in an era that rewards direct, engaging, and unscripted dialogue.

Gavin Newsom has a new podcast. This is normal in 2025. He’s taking an interesting approach by inviting right-wing alternative media figures like Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon. One point of the discussion with Kirk, who has used alternative media as a front to his political action committee Turning Point USA, tells the California governor that Democrats can’t handle long-form podcasts. 

His description was, well, unique: “Democrats can't survive in long-form podcasting. It's too unscripted, too masculine… to go into the wilderness, no rules, duel it out.” Bit much, but he's hitting on an important point about how the nature of communications is changing for politicians, business executives and media personalities.