For years, Maven has been the media technology firm that has provided behind-the-scenes services to more than 300 brands. Its valuable services cover everything from monetization to back-end support and infrastructure. Its brands served include History.com, The Street with Jim Cramer, Ski Magazine, Maxim and several hundred others. In 2019, Sports Illustrated was added to this list through a multi-million-dollar deal. The deal was structured so that Maven gained full control over the publication’s digital and print media rights.
Across more than 70 years, Sports Illustrated has been a force to contend with in the publishing world. This media giant’s reach spans across multiple contents and touches millions of people. However, even an industry leader like Sports Illustrated has not been insulated against major challenges that have plagued so many other publications in recent years. Free online content has resulted in lower readership and a drop in ad revenue at Sports Illustrated, and the contract between Maven and Sports Illustrated was created to address the challenge. Once Maven’s CEO, Ross Levinsohn, gained access to Sports Illustrated’s rights, he immediately sprang into action. In an effort to tackle the problem directly, he rearranged some of the publication’s content so that premium content was only available via a premium subscription. This has resulted in higher income that is futureproofed against the current challenges.
Ross Levinsohn is not a stranger to the many challenges affecting the media technology world. In fact, after graduating from American University in 1998, he has served the industry in a variety of high-level capacities. These have included top executive positions at Guggenheim Digital Media, Yahoo! and Fox Interactive Media. The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard Magazine and AdWeek were all a part of the Guggenheim Digital Media umbrella. Levinsohn has also been associated with CBS Sportsline, the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Publishing.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.