Nate Silver writes a few thoughts on the closing of FiveThirtyEight:
For more extended thoughts on the environment at Disney — plus plenty of self-reflection/self-criticism — you can see the item at the bottom of SBSQ #12. But the basic issue is that Disney was never particularly interested in running FiveThirtyEight as a business, even though I think it could have been a good business. Although they were generous in maintaining the site for so long and almost never interfered in our editorial process, the sort of muscle memory a media property builds early in its tenure tends to stick. We had an incredibly talented editorial staff, but we never had enough “product” people or strategy people to help the business grow and sustain itself. It’s always an uphill battle under those conditions, particularly when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff, who were constantly being poached by outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Silver also includes future plans for his Silver Bulletin paid newsletter, such as Trump approval ratings, college basketball ratings, and updated statistical models for the NBA and NFL. It kind of sounds like building up another version of FiveThirtyEight, with a more stable revenue stream.
