Number
Drudge: 36M uniques in a day, ~4 staff, $10-30M/yr
The Drudge Report, a one-page list of links, got 36 million unique views on 2004 Election Day. It ran on only 3-4 employees and was estimated to make $10-30 million a year in ad revenue.
$36M
Unique visitors on 2004 Election Day · uniques/day
“And in 2004, on Election Day, it got 36 million views, uniques in one day. Previously, it was updated once to twice a day with as many as 40 to 50 links per day. And if you, like Sean said, if you were like in the middle, if you were just a link there, you could get millions of views and they guessed that it was making some number between $10 and $30 million a year in ad revenue and had been doing so since the '90s. And it only had 3 or 4 employees, one of them being Matt Drudge, who would actually post the links in the day.”
Idea
Build a lean right-wing news aggregator to replace Drudge
Sam pitches link-aggregation media as a great lean business (The Hustle is an 8-figure version), and argues conservatives engage with news far more 'fervently,' making a right-leaning aggregator a real opportunity now that Drudge has drifted. Snippets-style headline curation is already the most-engaged content in their daily email.
“I think that they can be a really good business if you keep them lean, like 3, 4, 5 people. But particularly, I've always said this, Sean, that the conservatives engage with news way more. I don't know what the right word is. Fervently. Fervently. Yeah. It's— they have a more rabid fan base because usually the right wings, the right-wing folks feel like they're the minority and that they're being pushed down.”
Steal thisRun a 3-5 person news aggregator for a fervent, underserved tribe (e.g. conservatives); rabid audiences engage harder than mainstream ones.
Billy
Matt Drudge: ~$6M/month from a website of random links
Sam marvels at Matt Drudge, who has run the Drudge Report since 1996 with essentially one other person — a 'lame-ass website which is random links' that Sam estimates pulls roughly $6M a month in ad revenue.
“So $6 million a month, I bet, is what this guy makes. Uh, and the rumor is, is that he has— it's, uh, just him and one other person, and he's been doing it since 1996.”
Number
BuzzFeed pegs Drudge Report at $30M/month in ad revenue
Shaan cites a BuzzFeed News figure putting the Drudge Report's ad revenue at $30 million per month — five times Sam's own back-of-envelope estimate.
$30M
Drudge Report monthly ad revenue (per BuzzFeed News) · USD/month
“BuzzFeed News has him at $30 million in ad revenue per month.”
Number
Drudge Report: ~5-person staff could make $50M/year
Sam marvels that the Drudge Report, a 1996-era aggregator with a tiny staff, pulls roughly a billion views a month and could be run by about 5 people while making $50 million a year.
$50M
Potential annual revenue · USD/year
“This website is like the Craigslist of, of, of news. Like it's a tiny ass staff. It literally could be 5 people and it could make $50 million a year.”