Insight Shapes News14 Apr 2025

#5 How Much Is the Fish? How Undercurrent News Turned Niche Coverage in Seafood Into a High-Retention B2B Subscription Business. Tom Seaman at Undercurrent News

How do you turn a niche publication into a must-have industry platform?

In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Riise speaks with Tom Seaman, founder and editor-in-chief of Undercurrent News — a B2B media company covering the global seafood industry.

With over 70% of its revenue coming from subscriptions. But the real story? Undercurrent went beyond content — building pricing platforms, trade data tools, and a product-led approach that drives value and retention.

🎧 Topics we cover:

How Undercurrent grew a global audience in a specialized market
The evolution from newsroom to data-driven publishing and combining it
Why B2B subscriptions are thriving (and how to sell them)
Editorial and sales working together (yes, really)
What it takes to build lasting value in niche media
And yes — Tom answers the question: “How much is the fish?”

If you work in digital publishing, subscriptions, product, B2B media, or newsroom innovation — this episode is packed with strategies, learnings, and a few laughs along the way.

—

🎧 Subscribe to Insight Shapes News for conversations on the future of journalism, product thinking, and the strategies shaping the news industry.

Chapters:

00:00 Trends and Challenges in the Global Seafood Market

03:00 Building a Niche Media Powerhouse

05:56 The Vision Behind Undercurrent News

09:11 Understanding the Seafood Sector

11:55 Balancing Coverage: Comprehensive vs. In-Depth

15:08 The Shift to Subscription Revenue

17:53 Sales Strategy and Customer Engagement

21:07 The Importance of Data in Seafood Reporting

24:02 Developing a Pricing Portal

27:04 Challenges in Data Collection

29:56 The Future of Seafood Data Services

34:40 Navigating the Seafood Sector's Complexity

39:23 The Art of Data-Driven Storytelling

43:28 Editorial Decision-Making in Journalism

49:36 Building a Global Journalism Team

53:00 Hiring for Expertise vs. Talent

58:16 Lessons from Building a Niche Media Company

01:05:49 The Future of Journalism in an AI World

#B2BMedia #NicheMedia #DigitalPublishing #Subscriptions #Journalism #SeafoodIndustry #MediaInnovation #AudienceStrategy #NewsroomTransformation

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(18)

#18 INMA Berlin, Die Zeit, Media Pioneer, and Why Trust Is the Only Advantage Left. Tarjei Gilbrant at Kilkaya

What happens when two people who talk before every episode finally sit down in front of a microphone together?In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Riise is joined by...

22 Mai 34min

#17 Introducing Personalization Where the Newsroom Usually Says No — At the Top of the Homepage. Ivar Krustok & Tarmo Paju, Delfi Estonia

Content Personalization in news products has typically been placed in low-risk areas—below articles or in separate recommendation modules further down on the page.What happens when it is introduced hi...

9 Apr 1h 44min

#16 Technology Is No Longer Neutral. Why Infrastructure Is Becoming a Strategic Risk for News Companies. Endre Dingsør at Choose European

Technology used to feel neutral. Infrastructure choices were seen as operational decisions handled by IT teams. That assumption is now being challenged.In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkay...

12 Mar 49min

#15 The Leadership Model in Newsrooms Is Broken. What Needs to Change? Jeremy Clifford at Chrysalis Leadership

What does it take to lead journalists through uncertainty, resistance, and constant change?In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Riise speaks with Jeremy Clifford, fo...

23 Feb 1h 4min

#14 Algorithms vs Editors: Who Decides What You Read at Scale? Christoph Schmitz at Schibsted

How should personalization work in journalism when trust, fairness, and editorial responsibility are at stake?In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Riise speaks with ...

5 Jan 1h 10min

#13 All-In on News Subscriptions. How Süddeutsche Zeitung Plans to Fund Journalism by 2030. Dominic Grzbielok at Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ)

Why do people really pay for news in 2025 — and what keeps them paying month after month?In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Riise sits down with Dominic Grzbielok,...

24 Nov 20251h 10min

#12 Trust in Numbers: How Shared Data Makes Publishers Stronger Together. Bente Håvimb at MBL (Medietall)

What happens when competitors share their most sensitive numbers — and build one common truth instead of competing dashboards?In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Ri...

24 Sep 202546min

#11 The News Homepage that wanted to be Smart. Dana Schlüenzen at Hamburger Morgenpost (MOPO)

When 80% of homepage clicks happen in the very top rows, this is exactly where personalization has the biggest impact. At the same time, publishers face declining traffic from social platforms and sea...

27 Aug 202544min