For Substack, The Free Press’ Sale Is a Tenuous Victory
The Free Press, one of many largest, most profitable publishers on Substack, might depart the platform following its acquisition by Paramount.ADWEEK, Substack
When the information broke Monday that Paramount Skydance had acquired The Free Press for $150 million, Substack cofounders Hamish McKenzie and Chris Finest took to a livestream to have fun.
The Free Press, maybe greater than some other multiauthor publication on the platform, is a quintessential Substack success story, with greater than 100 thousand paying subscribers and hundreds of thousands of month-to-month readers. The duo needed to toast the second, which marked the largest exit of any creator on its platform.
However the celebration comes with a way of warning, because it raises questions on what might occur if The Free Press inevitably left the publication platform.
