Declining global advertising spend and plateauing subscriptions are ushering in a sea change in the news ecosystem: publishers are rediscovering the power of live experiences to connect communities and drive revenues. WAN - IFRA recently reported that 29% of news organisations have events as their third most important revenue source.
Advertisers are increasingly embracing experiential activations, helping to offset concerns about declining advertising spend. For example, BDG (the publisher of Bustle, W Magazine and Nylon) re-imagined their events as a new form of advertising inventory. This move has increased the contribution of BDG’s events to the overall revenues by 8 times in 2023 vs 2022. Their Chief Revenue Officer, Jason Wagenheim, attributed this to the fact that publishers can offer “things that Google, Facebook, linear [TV] networks and other big platforms out there just don't do or can’t do.”
Beyond that FT Live and Semafor demonstrate that, whether a century-old broadsheet or a newly founded digital native, combining quality journalism with bold delivery formats creates a powerful foundation for a successful events business. We explore both of their trajectories and learnings below.
FT Live
The Financial Times has over 15 years of experience running live events through FT Live. Evolving from ‘FT Conferences’ to a dedicated events arm, FT Live is ever-growing. The strength of the FT’s brand has been a key enabler, but it's the company's quality content and event experience that has powered this sustainable business.
With over 300 events on topics ranging from commodities to climate finance to the business of football, FT Live has contributed ~£60m in revenue in 2024 – a figure that has doubled since 2021. This has led to a successful revenue diversification strategy. The FT is one of the first legacy newspapers to increase revenue contribution from events from 5% in 2012 to 10% in 2024.
FT Live is playing an increasingly strategic role in supporting the FT's growth, well beyond revenue diversification. In 2024, more than 86,000 people from 175 countries attended an FT Live event. Of these, 46 per cent were at VP level or above, strengthening the FT's relationship with its core audience of influential decision-makers.
FT Live is also creating new opportunities for audience development. The United States has historically been a difficult market for the FT due to lower brand recognition and intense competition. Despite these challenges, FT Live has gained real momentum. Flagship events such as the FT Weekend Festival in Washington D.C. and the FT Business of Entertainment Summit have continued to grow each year, convening prominent figures in business, politics and culture. These events not only demonstrate FT Live’s ability to engage high-value audiences but also its potential to reinforce the FT’s brand in key international markets.
The FT is now focusing on collaborations with other business units as part of the newly announced Commercial Client Group. This aligns the advertising sales team, FT Live and FT Longitude to strengthen the commercial playbook and foster greater collaboration between the teams that serve clients and sponsors.
Semafor
Unlike the Financial Times, Semafor is a young publishing brand founded in 2022 by Ben Smith and Justin B. Smith with the aim of providing audiences an “unparalleled level of journalistic transparency through innovative new forms.”
Events have always played a vital part in delivering this commitment, with 75 events in their first year (12 of which came before their first newsletter). Since these initial forays into events, Semafor have expanded its portfolio and is now running live events in the US, the Middle East, Africa, and alongside the WEF in Davos.
In a recent interview, Semafor’s CEO Justin Smith explained how their approach was inspired by B2B media, which traditionally treats events as “an integral part of the strategy and the business model.” It is essential that the newsroom views events as a core responsibility. A top-down approach positions events as central to Semafor’s business alongside softer methods, such as the use of the term ‘live journalism’, which reinforces events as a core format instead of a secondary product.
This is proving to be a success: Semafor host many events, such as their flagship World Economy Summit, attended by almost 3000 individuals, including over half of Fortune’s 500 Global CEOs in 2025. Smith described it as “the closest thing to what Davos has accomplished in Switzerland.” In line with the priority that engagement leads to revenues, 50% of Semafor’s revenue is derived from its live journalism product at present. At a time when other publishers are looking for new sources of income and innovative ways to engage their audiences, Semafor has created a model that produces high-quality content and sustainable revenues while deepening engagement with its core audience.
As pressure mounts on publishers to diversify revenue, it is increasingly clear that events, or ‘live journalism’, offer a compelling opportunity to monetise and engage audiences. Our colleagues at FT Live share that some of the key reasons to make events work are:
- Quality content that complements and deepens their core product, strengthening the brand instead of cheapening it.
- Internal collaboration to ensure each event delivers both editorial excellence and commercial value.
- Excellence of delivery that ensures that sponsors and attendees become repeat clients.
Whether you’re a legacy brand, like the FT, or a digital native, like Semafor, there is a place for well-delivered, engaging events in your portfolio.
