--- title: Publishers and Hollywood are a perfect match - The Hustle description: Publishers need revenue, and Hollywood needs better stories. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1568911507-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-20T222929.925Z.webp --- # Publishers and Hollywood are a perfect match ![Rob Litterst](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Rob-Litterst-pic.png?width=48&height=48&name=Rob-Litterst-pic.png) [Rob Litterst](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/rob-litterst) [Rob Litterst Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/robbylit) Published: September 21, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Back in the day, publishers had two revenue streams: advertising and subscriptions. ![Publishers and Hollywood are a perfect match](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1568911507-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-20T222929.925Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1568911507-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-20T222929.925Z.webp) Enter Google and Facebook, which have snatched away advertising dollars and ushered in an era of unprecedented media consolidation. - **Case in point:** In 1983, media in the US was controlled by 50 companies — today, 90% is controlled by [five](https://miscellanynews.org/2021/04/29/opinions/the-unprecedented-consolidation-of-the-modern-media-industry-has-severe-consequences/). To survive, publishers have had to [find](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-media-trends) new revenue streams, and an increasingly popular option is selling their backlog to Hollywood, per *Axios*. #### **Hollywood licensing…** … has been embraced by massive imprints like *The New York Times* and *The Washington Post*, but it’s also become popular with smaller publications: - ***The Atlantic*** recently announced that its first two film and television projects will soon be released on Peacock. - ***Texas Monthly*** [pulled in](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-texas-monthly-sold-more-than-20-projects-to-hollywood-2021-8) ~$1m last year after making 20+ licensing deals between 2020 and 2021. *Texas Monthly* president Scott Brown says a credit in the main titles can drive viewers back to the magazine’s properties, making the deals a lucrative marketing play in addition to licensing revenue. #### **Hollywood could use help, too** While the 2022 box office started off hot, it’s since [cooled off](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/03/how-the-summer-box-office-sizzled-then-fizzled-in-charts.html), and recent data [suggests](https://morningconsult.com/2022/08/04/marvel-superhero-movies-fatigue/#:~:text=Superhero%20fatigue%20is%20up%20among%20adults%2C%20Marvel%20fans&text=While%2082%25%20of%20Marvel%20fans,down%20from%2087%25%20in%20November.) superhero fatigue is setting in. Publisher archives can be a great source for non-Marvel fare and can lead to massive hits — a *Texas Monthly* story was the source for “Tiger King,” which took over Netflix in 2020. Perhaps a marriage between these two struggling industries could be the love story we never knew we needed. 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