Mainstream Is Now Fringe, and Fringe Is Mainstream
The current state of media is total anarchy
Last week, a cable news pundit struggled to understand the new media landscape. So he sought advice from his teenage son.
He asked the youngster to name the most influential people in the world today.
Can you guess the names he picked?
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Here’s what happened:
I’m thinking to myself he’s going to say Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z.
He says Kai Cenat, Adin Ross, Jynxzi, and Sketch. I don’t know who he is talking about.
I said ‘What platforms are you on?’
He said ‘I’m on Twitch, Kick, and Rumble.’
I said ‘That sounds like you need to go to the hospital.
What are these platforms? I’m telling you guys, the mainstream has become fringe, and the fringe has become mainstream….
There are people out there that are getting 14 million streams. And we are on cable news getting one or two million.
This is the new reality. The future of media has arrived—but people above a certain age won’t even recognize the names.
Check out the list below of the most watched streamers in the US and Canada.
Jynxzi? Zackrawrr? Summit1g?
A few days ago, I’d have told you these are passwords, not people.
Now I know better. I’ve watched videos from each of these individuals—and it’s shocking how different they are from mainstream media fare.
Media empires are getting defeated, but not by their corporate competitors. They’re finding themselve replaced by a ragtag assortment of podcasters, pranksters, pundits, gamers, gadflies, and influencers.
Meanwhile inside the world of legacy media, the situation has gone from bad to worse:
Potential editors are “fleeing” from the Washington Post, according to one source. In just the last few days, two leading candidates voluntarily removed their names from consideration.
Comcast doesn’t want to own MSNBC or CNBC. They are spinning off the assets—a strategy often employed to limit exposure to damaged businesses.
NPR stations will “need to fight for their lives” in 2025. And it’s not just the political threat. NPR faces a $30 million budget gap, and has “failed to fully monetize both podcasts and its additional digital assets.”
Cable news is now trying to imitate Joe Rogan, and is desperately seeking podcasters. I doubt they can succeed; it isn’t in their DNA. But I can’t blame them—Mr. Rogan is the real longterm winner from the 2024 election. He will be flexing his power for at least the next decade.
Fox News survived the election with better ratings than its peers, but the network’s median viewer age is 69—it’s now a geriatric brand. Meanwhile an ugly Succession-style battle for control may force a sale.
Internal strife is turning other newsrooms into war zones.
This sounds brutal—but I’ll say it anyway. The only viable business model in legacy media right now is finding a billionaire owner.
But that’s a painful way to earn a living as a journalist. Just ask the writers at the LA Times or Washington Post.
Based on these incidents, you might assume that the entire media business is collapsing like a bad souffle. But that’s not true.
Alternative media is enjoying a gold rush.
I predicted this a little over a year ago. But even I’m shaken by the speed with which the fringe is devouring the mainstream.
YouTube boasts that it is rapidly taking over the living room. Instead of watching Netflix or cable, audiences are increasingly streaming podcasters and influencers on their home television set.
Last week, the company released its latest figures: “Viewers watched over 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices.”
YouTube is already 40% bigger than Netflix. And that gap will grow.
Meanwhile Substack announced yesterday that it will create a turbocharged enterprise platform to support entire media businesses. Some Substacks may soon resemble the The Atlantic or Vox Media or even the Washington Post.
The goal is to provide individual journalists or teams with a “new option for starting a fully-fledged media business, encompassing rich design, advanced websites, deep analytics, automated marketing features, and first-class support for video, audio, and more.”
Can freelancers really compete with huge media empires on equal terms? We will soon find out.
This feels like a big deal. But it’s going to get bigger.
The fringe will take over other spheres of the culture. It’s starting with journalism, but the same thing will soon happen in music, movies, and other fields.
I predict that, in the very near future, a single individual (or small indie team) will compete head-to-head with major record labels—and defeat them decisively in the marketplace. All you need is 50 million YouTube (or TikTok) subscribers and you can blow Universal Music out of the water.
The movie business will be harder for freelancers—because films cost so much to make. But new AI tools will change that. Somebody sitting in their parents’ basement will soon be able to make a hit movie.
The same will be true of video games. Individual creators will leverage new tech, and compete against the current industry leaders.
New York book publishers still have prestige, but bestselling authors don’t need them anymore. Taylor Swift bypassed the whole publishing industry with her new book, and many others will soon do the same.
Yes, 2024 was tumultuous for participants in the culture business. But 2025 will look like total anarchy.
The rules have changed—and that means the rulers must also change. I’m not sure who will end up on top, but it won’t be the familiar names from the past.
At 76 years of age, it's fair to say I'm entering the home stretch, but one thing I won't miss when I put my cue back in the rack is the complete bastardization of the entertainment models that have sustained me for seven decades.
It's inevitable that someone(s) with a YouTube channel will do more for new music than record labels because labels would rather buy catalogues than develop and nourish new talent. And that will come at a cost to their influence which will decline.