LONDON — The Guardian’s publisher will post annual digital revenue up by a quarter to over £70 million ($116 million) for the year ending March, CEO Andrew Miller tells Beet.TV.
Although many in the industry report worsening ad rates, the Guardian Media Group CEO says: “We’re seeing a hardening of our CPMs.” The group will report the results this summer.
The publisher in February opened Guardian Labs, a division to make content for brands, starting with Unilever. But Miller rejects the suggestion editorial and commercial imperatives cannot mix: “Key clients are struggling to get their advertising agencies to find interesting ways of doing content. This is responding to that without compromising what we do – and making very clear to our readers when we do it.”
Miller says The Guardian will produce long-form digital video for 18- to 25-year-olds and considers data important but: “Bots will never take over the role of journalists.”
Beet.TV spoke with him at the FT Digital Media Conference. To view all our coverage of the conference, visit this page.
