3 channels are the future of media

YouTube is the new TV.

Podcasts are the new radio.

Newsletters are the new magazines/newspapers.

I call these the big 3.

Here's why they're dominant:

YouTube

• Over 2.7B monthly active users globally.

• YouTube leads TV viewing. People spend more time viewing YouTube on TV than every streaming service.

Podcast

• There are over 464M podcast listeners globally.

• 42% of Americans listen to podcasts monthly, up from 9% in 2008.

• The average listener consumes 8 podcasts per week.

Newsletter

• Newsletter readership has grown 50% since 2020 alone.

• Substack has over 35M active subscriptions. Newsletters like Morning Brew, 1440 Media, and TheSkimm have over 4M subscribers each.

• 23% of all online orders can be attributed to email marketing — and 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI.

If the value of the big 3 aren't obvious to you yet, now they should be.

Here’s the reality you need to accept about building a content business:

1) If you're not exceptional at (at least) one of these channels, it's impossible to build a content business.

Sure, social media, paid ads, and other channels help. But these 3 channels are where you build relationships at scale.

The big 3 (done correctly) are the best ways to get an audience to know, like, and trust you. And because of that, they’re also the best channels for monetization.

2) Everything else is a distraction or a way to drive audiences to the big 3.

If you’re a solo founder or small team, there's no way to master all of the channels you could publish content to.

You must focus on 2-3 channels, max, to grow. If you're using a channel that's not in the big 3, it needs to drive audience to the big 3, or it's useless.

3) Specialize in 1: YouTube, podcast, or newsletter.

Yes, you should use all over time. But I rarely see a media company or creator who excels at all 3 at once.

It's hard to grow more than 1 channel at a time. You need a primary channel where 80%+ of your content creation time goes.

4) If you specialize in newsletters or podcasts, you need a discovery channel.

Newsletters and podcasts don’t grow organically by themselves. There’s no built-in algorithmic discovery or way for audiences to share your content effectively.

(Discovery platforms — Includes video platforms like YouTube, TikTok — and social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and more.)

You’ll need to use at least 1 of these to drive people to your newsletter or podcast.

5) Fear of video is stunting your growth.

The reality is, video is the dominant content format. All the biggest creators and media companies are video-first.

If you're not willing to master video, expect to grow slowly or not at all.

This probably isn't what you want to hear. Every week I talk to great writers who avoid making videos at all costs. Get over it.

Writer-types make excuses like:

• Short form videos are brain rot

• Video viewers don’t read newsletters

• YouTube is for young, non-sophisticated audiences.

• I’m not good on camera — I don’t know how to edit, set up a studio, etc

These just aren't true.

Audiences care more about your ideas than your editing, audio quality, lighting, or charisma. Plus, these skills aren’t hard to learn.

Good videos (short-form, long-form, or both) will help you grow 10X faster.